Eviota ancora and E. rubriguttata gobies formerly known as Eviota sp. 7 and E. sp. 15

Eviota ancora is the nano goby formerly known as Eviota sp. 7. Photo by Kiss2Sea

Eviota ancora and Eviota rubriguttata are the latest new species of nano gobies to be formally described and given a proper scientific name. The nano gobies formerly known as Eviota sp. 7 and Eviota sp. 15 were described from specimens collected in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Like Eviota nigrispinna which also occurs at the Ryukyu Islands, the new Eviota sp. were described by David Greenfield and Toshiyuki Suzuki.

There are a ton of new nano gobies in various genera which are still awaiting formal description. Trimma, Vanderhorstia and Eviota are all rife with species of nano gobies which are currently only known from pictures and an informal number designation. There are so many species waiting to be described that it seems some taxonomists are doing wholesale descriptions as in the four new Eviota gobies described by Randall et. al.

Eviota ancora is a small translucent Eviota goby which is distinguished by an orange hook-shaped marking on its head. E. ancora has no real dark markings on its body and “scales not strongly pigmented; caudal fin with five irregular bands of circles of dark chromatophores crossing the fin”. The suggested common name of Eviota ancora is Hookcheek pygmy goby, the suggested Japanese name is Bonbori-Isohaze and it is most similar to Eviota storthynx.

If Eviota ancora is really pale and translucent, then Eviota rubriguttata more than makes up for it with an appearance that is distinguished by tiny black chromatophores (color cells) all over its body and red round spot in the dorsal and anal fins. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Eviota rubriguttata is the the iris of the eye which is described as “cream with spoke-like orange bars radiating from black pupil”. Eviota rubriguttata is most similar to Eviota pardalota which is distinguished by black spots on the base of the pectoral fin. The suggested common name is Red Spot fin pygmy goby and the Japanese common name is Hanabi-Isohaze.

Huge thanks to Dr. David Greenfield for sharing the pictures of the publication with us. Eviota ancora and Eviota rubriguttata are described in the latest issue of Zootaxa.

Jake Adams

Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.