Species: Awaous banana, River Goby

Awaous banana (Valenciennes, 1837)

River Goby

Head broad, depressed; snout blunt; head and body flattened on bottom; eyes small, close together, a pair of pores above front margin; pores in a single series of 7 on canal behind eye-pores; mouth a little under snout; jaw teeth slender, long, none on front of roof of mouth; 2-3 elongate papillae on shoulder girdle under gill cover; gill membranes broadly joined to body under throat, with 5 rays; dorsal fin VI + I, 10 (9-12), length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal fin I, 10 (9-11); pectoral fin 16 (14-17), pelvic fins fused into a disk; tail fin rounded; scales on entire body, those on body rough; scales in lateral series 67-73 (57-86); scales before dorsal fin 30 (26-40); no lateral line.

Background color brown dorsally, sides light yellowish tan, ventral surface white or pale yellow; sides of head with 3 black slanted bars; body with about 7 irregular black bars on upper side, the first extending from above the gill cover onto the pectoral fin, the bar under the origin of the 1st dorsal crescent-shaped, curving from in front of the dorsal fin to the ventral surface of the body; flank with 7-8 black blotches; back with a series of black irregular small spots, in front of and along first dorsal fin; dorsal fin yellowish; anal and pelvic fins pinkish; base of pectoral fin pinkish orange, the remainder yellowish, except for black bar on its front; tail fin with 7-8 black bars. Both sexes have similar colors. Juvenile with 3 dark diagonal bars on nape, 4 bars on lower body under 2nd dorsal fin and tail base.

Reaches: 37 cm.

Depth: 0.3-3 m.

Habitat: Inhabits clear streams and rivers over sand and gravel, but also found in turbid waters with muddy bottoms; occurs in low salinity mouths of streams. Feeds mainly on filamentous algae.

Atlantic coast of the Americas: the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil.