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Species: Coryphopterus thrix, Bartail Goby, Bartail Sand-goby

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

body: many small orange spots
eye: radiating lines, dots along top
D1 elongate spine; D2 8-9; A 9
pectoral 17-19, +/- large black spot upper base
pelvics: concave disc
C base: short dark bar

Coryphopterus thrix Bohlke & Robins, 1960

Bartail Goby, Bartail Sand-goby

Snout profile straight; very low crest on head; head pores present, usually 1 between center of eyes, 1 pair between rear nostrils; papillae on cheek in horizontal rows; mouth small, relatively horizontal; gill membranes broadly joined to body under throat, with 5 rays; dorsal fin VI (second spine elongate) + I, 8-9; length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal fin I, 9; pectoral fin 17-19; pelvic fins I, 5, fin disk shaped, joined at front, with frenum; urogenital papillae in males long, about half as long as anal spine; body covered with scales, scales large, rough, absent from head, 25-26 in lateral series; no lateral line.

Body largely unmarked, patches of small yellow to orange spots along the mid-body; upper half of eye with radiating dark lines, top of eyeball with small dark dots between those lines; often a dark bar angled down and forwards from eye to mid-side of jaw; a short rectangular dark bar in the middle half of tail fin base; pectoral-fin base usually with a large dark spot covering top half, darker in males, sometimes a fainter dark spot below that; no dark spot behind eye on upper edge of operculum.

Reaches 5 cm.

Habitat: Lives on sand around coral heads in clear water.

Depth: 2-85 m.

North Carolina to Brazil.


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Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
Habitat
  • Rocks
  • Sand & gravel
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef and soft bottom
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Data
  • Detritivore
  • Omnivore
Diet
  • Data
  • Benthic microalgae
  • Detritus
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
Egg Type
  • Benthic
  • Data
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean non-endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Also in Brazil
  • Continent
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • Extends South of GC
  • GC non-endemic
  • Island (s)
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Listed
  • Vulnerable
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 5
Depth Range Min
  • 2
Depth Range Max
  • 85