Species: Gnatholepis thompsoni, Goldspot Goby

Gnatholepis thompsoni Jordan, 1904

Goldspot Goby

Head thick, blunt; a pair of pores between front of eyes; mouth slightly under snout, upper jaw ending before pupil of eye; lips moderately fleshy; teeth conical, in upper jaw in several rows, outer enlarged, slender, and recurved, a single large canine on each side near front; lower jaw similar but with several tusklike canines projecting from side of mouth; front of roof of mouth without teeth; tongue distinctly two-lobed; 4-5 gill rakers; gill membranes broadly joined to body under throat, with 5 rays; dorsal fin VI + I,11; length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal fin I, 11; pectoral fin 17; pelvic fins I,5 forming a disk; all of body, top of head, cheek and gill cover with scales, scales large, rough; no lateral line.

Body whitish; a narrow dark bar crossing head above eye and extending below middle of eye; a prominent yellow spot surrounded by incomplete dark ring above pectoral fin base; two indistinct brownish orange stripes, 1st running from behind eye to above pectoral base, 2nd beginning at front of gill cover and running to pectoral base.

Reaches: 8.2 cm.

Habitat: Open sand bottoms near bases of coral reefs and rock rubble areas.

Depth: 0.5-85 m.

Trans-Atlantic; Bermuda to Brazil.

Note: A study by Larson & Buckle (2012) indicates that G. thompsoni is a valid species, distinct from other Indo-Pacific species in the same genus.