Species: Varicus marilynae, Orangebelly Goby

Varicus marilynae Gilmore, 1979

Orangebelly Goby

Body short, somewhat depressed at front; head large; eyes large; snout shorter than eye; head without pores; front and rear nostrils are short tubes; mouth opens at front, oblique, upper jaw extending to middle of pupil; teeth in both jaws in at least 3 rows at front; 5-6 enlarged teeth in outer row; tongue slightly bilobed; 7 gill rakers on lower arch; gill opening restricted to length of pectoral fin base; gill membranes with 5 rays; dorsal fin VII, no spines elongate, + I, 8; length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal fin I, 7; pectoral fin 18 (16-18), pointed, reaching to anal fin origin; pelvic fins I, 5, completely separate, no membrane between 5th rays, no front membrane between spinesrays 1-4 branched only at flattened ray tips, tips of 1st 3 rays joined to form a fleshy flattened pad, 5th ray greatly reduced relative to 4th, fins not reaching 3rd anal fin ray; scales on body rough, 4 at tail fin base, 18-19 in lateral series, extend from tail base to under mid-pectoral; belly without scales; no lateral line.

Pink to red lower head and body, upper head and body brown; 9 brown, green-edged bars extending down from top of head and body, 3 of those on body are long, the remainder short; dorsal fins with 3 yellow stripes; pectoral fins orange; pelvic fins red; anal fin with red base and black margin; tail fin with yellow bars, lower 2 or 3 rays black.

Reaches 2.9 cm.

Habitat: open sand and/or shell-hash bottom with scattered small rocks.

Depth: 61-91 m.

Both coasts of Florida; the NW Gulf of Mexico.