Species: Gobiesox cephalus, Riverine Clingfish, Smooth Clingfish

Gobiesox cephalus Lacepede, 1800

Riverine Clingfish, Smooth Clingfish

Tadpole shaped, head long, depressed, with poorly developed sensory papillae, none on top lip edge or on snout above top lip; front nostril with a small, 2 lobed flap; rear nostril tubular, before front edge of eye; top lip broad, much wider at front than at sides; top jaw with 4-5 pairs of rounded incisors at front, a deep patch of conical teeth behind those, with small canines on sides; lower jaw with 1 row of teeth, 5-7, round pointed incisors at front, weak canines at the side; 1 dorsal fin, at rear, no spines, relatively short based 9 (8-10), much closer to tail fin base than to pectoral base; anal fin 7 (6-8), like dorsal fin and under it; pectoral fin 21 (19-22), a large fleshy pad with free rear edge at base of fin, free rear edge of that pad extends above to level of upper gill membrane attachment; sucker large, with papillae at front (a broad band, 7 rows deep), center (2 well separated patches, each with 4-5 rows of papillae) & a band at rear; anus much nearer sucker than anal fin origin, well before dorsal fin origin; no scales; lateral line present as pores on head only.

Base color light grey-brown with close-set dark spots on a pale meshwork; a dark brown spot at front of dorsal fin base.

Mottled grey-brown, with tiny pale spots; a dark spot at front of dorsal fin.

Reaches 15 cm.

Primarily freshwater, but also occurs in brackish water.

Depth range: 0-2 m?

Cuba to the S Caribbean.