Species: Gobiosoma longipala, Twoscale Goby

Gobiosoma longipala Ginsburg, 1933

Twoscale Goby

Body robust, head rounded, wider than deep; 1 pore between eyes; very small barbel before eye on inner edge of upper lip; 2 pores over opercle; preopercle with 3 pores; anterior nostril - short tube; posterior - raised rim; mouth nearly terminal; upper lip separated from snout by a groove along its top edge; no teeth on roof of mouth; outer row of teeth enlarged in both jaws; tongue entire; end of maxilla on vertical about through rear margin of eye; teeth with 3-4 rows, outer enlarged in upper, lower with outer and inner enlarged; gill membranes broadly joined to body under throat, with 5 rays; dorsal fin VII (rarely VI or VIII), not filamentous + I, 11 (9-12); length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal fin I, 9 (8-10); pectoral fins 17 (15-18); pelvic fins I, 5, fin long, reaching to anus, oval, disk complete; tail fin with 17 branched rays, oval; body without scales except for 2 small very rough scales on the tail fin base; no lateral line.

Head mottled, darker on top, dark specimens with a dark bar from lower edge of eye to top lip; body with ~7-8 vertical bars, dark bars broader than the light interspaces; light interspaces better defined below the midline, bars at anterior of the body well defined with near vertical edges, posterior bars coalescing; some specimens with only light vertical interspaces below midline at anterior end; a median series of small dark brown longitudinal dashes, generally equal in length to width of dark bars; generally 1-2 prominent dark dots at junction of each dark bar with the dorsal fins; dorsal fins may be transparent, mottled, or dark; pectoral fins transparent; pelvic fin dusky to dark; anal fin translucent to mottled; caudal fin dusky.

Size: 5.0 cm.

Habitat - Coastal bays and deeper canals in shell & sand bottoms.

Depth: 0-20 m.

Gulf of Mexico.