Species: Lythrypnus minimus, Pygmy Goby

Lythrypnus minimus Garzón-Ferreira & Acero P., 1988

Pygmy Goby

Body relatively deep, compressed; head compressed, profile round; head without pores; papillae around mouth, on cheeks and operculum and over eye;front nostril a long tube, rear nostril a raised rim; mouth very oblique; tongue bluntly pointed; gill opening narrow, ~pectoral base; 5-7 gill rakers; gill membranes with 5 rays; dorsal fin VI (spines I-II elongate in male) + I, 10 (7-11); length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal fin I, 8 (8-9); pectoral fin 15 (12-16) rays unbranched; pelvics I, 5, fused into disc; tail fin short, round, with 17 segmented rays; scales rough, body scaled except chest and pectoral base, 24 lateral rows, none on head and nape; no lateral line.

Body translucent red or orange with 10 narrow pale saddles or bars on posterior half, 2-3 more bars on nape; 2-4 oblique darker bars or rows of spots below eye; females may be uniformly colored; base of pectoral fin in adult males with a dark black blotch, roundish and wide, covering the entire vertical extent of base and the bases of pectoral rays; reduced or absent in young and females; all fins with scattering of pigment dots, especially males; bottom portion of dorsal fin brown.

Reaches 1.5 cm.

Found on coral reefs, isolated heads and patch reefs in protected lagoons and compact reefs.

Depth range: 1-109 m.

The Bahamas to the S Caribbean.