Species: Gobiosoma grosvenori, Rockcut Goby

Gobiosoma grosvenori (Robins, 1964)

Rockcut Goby

Body robust; head rounded, broader than deep, somewhat depressed; snout blunt; anterior nostril a short tube, posterior a raised rim; 1 pore between eyes; 2 pores over opercle; 3 preopercular pores;mouth small, a little under snout; upper lip separated from snout by a groove along its top edge; teeth in 4 rows in upper jaw, 3 in lower jaw, outer row of teeth enlarged in upper and lower; no teeth on roof of mouth; tongue truncate to slightly bilobed; gill membranes broadly joined to body under throat, with 5 rays; dorsal fin VII (none filamentous) + I, 9; length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal fin I, 8 (7-8); pectoral fin 17 (16-18) elongate reaching to origin of 2nd dorsal fin; pelvic I, 5, fins almost completely separate, shape elongate, anterior membrane of fin very small, fin extends ¾ distance to anus; caudal fin segmented 17, rounded; scaled from tail fin base to pectoral fin, with a narrow tongue of scales on the front body; upper narrow naked area from upper pectoral fin base to origin of second dorsal fin; lower narrow naked area from lower pectoral fin base to anal-fin origin; four very rough scales at base of tail fin; scales in longitudinal series 31-35; scales easily shed; no lateral line.

Head and body pale tan; head with scattered dark dots, a diagonal thin dark bar through eye to center of top lip; a broad dark "V" or "Y" on membranes under throat; body with a series of short horizontal dashes or dots along the lateral midline, each corresponding with a dark bar, those bars separated by light thin bars, almost white on mid-trunk; top body profile with pairs of dark spots at the top of the dark body bars; dorsal fins with light and dark body bars extending onto fin base, light area in midfin and edge dark (darker in 1st dorsal); anal fin light near base, dark at outer edge; pectoral fin base with scattered melanophores and a small dark patch near the upper fin base; pelvic fin with numerous dark dots; tail fin with series of 6-7 thin vertical bars.

Size: 3.0 cm.

Habitat - Found in open shallow shore waters with scattered coral, rubble, rocks, open sandy areas and weed beds.

Depth range: 1-5 m.

Florida to the S Caribbean.