GOBIIDAE


Gobiopterus panayensis, 1.0 cm SL
(photo by Koichi Shibukawa)


Gobiopterus panayensis
(Herre, 1944)
Panay Glass-goby

D III+7; A 10; P1 13-14; LR 20; PDS 0.

Body relatively short, compressed. Head subcylindrical; lower jaw projecting beyond upper jaw; gill opening not extending anteriorly to a vertical through preopercular margin. Pelvic fins united medially; frenum present. Scales cycloid; head and anterior part of body naked. Sensory canals and pores absent on head; transverse pattern of sensory-papillae rows on cheek. Color: body subtranslucent (immediately turns to pale just after death), with scattered melanophores. Size: 1.3 cm SL. Distribution: West Pacific and Andaman Sea. Remarks: found in quiet waters of mangrove areas with soft muddy bottoms around aquatic plants; usually collected with the other paedomorphic gobies of the genus Pandaka.