A new species of marine goby has been described from Bali, Indonesia. Named the Sponge Frillgoby, the newly discovered species grows to just 36mm in length and has a commensal association with the large barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria). The other 23 species of Bathygobius are typically free-living bottom dwellers, 15 of which come from the Indo-West Pacific.
The paper’s authors say that there are photographic records of the new fish from Sumba, Indonesia, Cebu, Philippines, and Queensland, Australia, but that they first became aware of it through the efforts of Christiane Waldrich, who photographed the new species on reef slopes in front of her Bali, Indonesia dive resort.
B.mero occurs at greater depths than its congeners (usually below 15m,) whereas other Bathygobius are mainly confined to shallow reefs.
The new species is named mero with reference to the MERO Foundation (Indonesian Marine Education and Research Organisation, Tulamben, Bali) for their sponsorship of the study.
Citation
Citation: Allen, G. R., Erdmann, M.V. & Ichida, N.K. (2024) A new sponge-dwelling goby (Gobiidae: Bathygobius) from Indonesia, Philippines, and Australia. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, 41, 46–53. doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14003729
Image credit: Bathygobius mero, n. sp., approximately 35 mm SL, on surface of barrel sponge (Xestospongia testudinaria), Bali,
Indonesia (C. Waldrich).
