Species: Paedovaricus imswe, Whiteband Goby

Paedovaricus imswe Greenfield, 1981

Whiteband Goby

Body short, somewhat compressed; head large, compressed, narrow; no pores on head; snout much shorter than eye; mouth opens at front, very oblique; eyes large; front nostril a long tube, rear nostril a short tube; tongue bi-lobed; teeth in both jaws in at least 3 rows, entire outer row greatly enlarged, curved and pointed; gill membranes broadly joined to body under throat, with 5 rays; dorsal fin VII, spines not elongate, + I, 7; length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal fin I, 7; pectoral 14-15, pointed, reaches well past anal fin origin; pelvic fins I,5, , fins completely separate, lack frenum between front spines, no membrane between innermost rays, rays unbranched, without flattened or fleshy tips, rays very elongate, 4th extending past base of anal fin, 5th ray much shorter than 4th; scales, rough, ~24 in lateral series, originate under 2nd dorsal ray 1; belly completely scaled; no lateral line.

Head yellow on sides and underneath, yellow and salmon-pink on top; yellow-orange iris; body translucent white, with 4 narrow dashes along side midline; scale pockets outlined in pinkish-orange; 4 blotches of black pigment along anal fin base; 8 blotches of black pigment along top surface of body; a white bar followed by a black bar on tail base; tail fin bright yellow; pectoral fins yellow; dorsal orange-yellow at base, yellow distally, membranes with orange-yellow spots; anal fin orange-yellow basally, yellow distally, narrow orange-brown margin; pelvic fin rays white, fin base pale yellow.

Reaches: 1.7 cm.

Habitat: well developed coral reef area near the dropoff region.

Depth: 15-25 m.

The Bahamas and the NW Caribbean.