Species: Gobiosoma spes, Vermiculated Goby

Gobiosoma spes (Ginsburg, 1939)

Vermiculated Goby

Body robust, head rounded; 1 pore between eyes; no pore over opercle; 2 preopercular pores; no head barbels; front nostril a tube, rear a short tube; upper lip separated from snout by a groove along its top edge; upper jaw with outer teeth enlarged, no canines, lower jaw with outer and inner rows enlarged, some canines present; no teeth on roof of mouth; gill membranes broadly joined to body under throat, with 5 rays; dorsal fin VII (1st with elongate filament in males) + I, 10 (9-11); length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal I, 9 (8-10); pectoral 15-16 (14-17); pelvic I, 5 all rays branched, disk complete and oval, with well developed membrane; tail fin rounded, 17 segmented rays; no scales on head or most of body, scales on side interrupted, with an isolated small patch of scales just behind pectoral fin base & 7-16 rows on tail base, none on tail fin base; no lateral line.

Males, particularly adults, uniformily dark, little paler below than above; head, particularly in the breeding season is blackish; dorsal and anal fins blackish at base with numerous pale spots and vermiculations near the outer edges. Females with more spots than males; generally 5 bars on back and upper sides, the first across the nape, the second and third through the anterior and posterior base of D1, the fourth under the middle and the fifth under the posterior rays of the second dorsal fin; a final dark bar occurs along the tail base.

Size: 4.1 cm.

Habitat - coast bays and lagoons.

Depth: 0-2 m.

The SW Caribbean.