A new species of dwarfgoby has been described from Nuusafee Island, Samoa. Named Taei’s Dwarfgoby, Eviota taeiae, it becomes the fourth species of the Eviota guttata species complex and takes the total number of valid Eviota species up to 129. The dwarfgobies in the genus Eviota occur throughout the Indo-Pacific region but have shown that many species once thought widespread across the region are in fact a number of closely related but geographically non-overlapping species. The Eviota guttata complex is one such example of this, and the paper’s authors speculate on the existence of several species still to be described.
The new species is currently known only from the reefs and small islands fringing the main island of Upolu in Samoa. It was observed and collected from 3–20 m depth on outer reef slopes exposed to significant wave energy, usually perched individually on encrusting coralline algal outcrops or occasionally on live encrusting coral.
Eviota guttata species complex
It can be distinguished from its congeners, (and others in the E.guttata species complex,) by the large red spot behind the eye that is distinctly separate from a smaller red spot located between and behind the eyes on the dorsal midline, for E. guttata and E. teresae, whereas in E. taeiae the small red interorbital spot is connected to the larger spot behind each eye, and in E. albolineata the small red interorbital spot is absent.
Eviota taeiae is named in honor of Sue Miller Taei, a passionate and highly respected marine conservationist who dedicated her career to the reefs and peoples of the Pacific “Oceanscape”, and especially to her native Samoa. Sue tragically passed away shortly after this beautiful new species was discovered, and the species is named in her memory.
The new dwarfgoby is described by Mark V. Erdmann, David W. Greenfield, and Luke Tornabene. For more information see Erdmann, M.V., Greenfield D.W. & Tornabene, L. (2023) Eviota taeiae, a new dwarfgoby (Teleostei: Gobiidae) of the Eviota guttata complex from Samoa. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, 40, 37–47. doi:https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8011284
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