Papua New Guinea is once again the locale for the discovery of new reef fish, this time with two new species of miniature gobies. Trimma blematium and T. meityae are two newly described species from this very numerous genus which both features very characteristic blue eyes, a trait not see in other Trimma gobies. Both T. blematium and T. meityae come from the Northern coast of Papua New Guinea with in mesophotic habitats with lots of rubble at a depth of 50 to 70 meters, or 164 to 229 feet deep.
The blue-eyed Pygmygoby Trimma blematium was collected from the Milne Bay province of PNG and it is a pale, very subtly colored fish overall. It has a yellow spot above and behind the eye, with a pink colored snout and a very light opalescent color throughout the body. It was discovered at Normanby Island in Milne Bay on rubble slopes with strong cold currents.
Meyti’s Pygmygoby, Trimma meityae was discovered in Cenderawasih Bay in a near shore reef environment with a mixture of sand and silt but very little waves or water flow. The body is even mole and uncolored than T. blematium but it has a brighter blue patch of blue coloration on top of and in between the eyes.
The two new species of Trimma are very similar in appearance but are separated by roughly 2,000km although they are both found on the northern coast of PNG. Trimma blematium and T. meityae are described by Winterbottom and Erdmann in the most recent edition of ZooTaxa.
