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Species: Gobiosoma longipala, Twoscale Goby

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

tiny barbel before eye
pores: opercle 2; preopercle 3
alternating dark & light bars of same width, edges wavy
center flank: row dark spots
D2 I,11; A 9; pectoral 17
pelvic disc oval
only scales = 2 small, very rough on C base

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.


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Salinity
  • Brackish
  • Marine
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
Habitat
  • Sand & gravel
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Soft bottom only
  • Estuary
  • Mud
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Demersal
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
  • Mobile benthic gastropods/bivalves
  • Mobile benthic worms
Egg Type
  • Benthic
  • Data
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent
  • Continent only
  • GC endemic
  • Gulf of Mexico endemic
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 5
Depth Range Min
  • 0
Depth Range Max
  • 20