GOBIIDAE


Palutrus scapulopunctatus, 1.9 cm SL
(photo by Ukkrit Satapoomin)


Palutrus scapulopunctatus
(de Beaufort, 1912)

D VI+I, 8; A I, 7; P1 14; LR 25-27; PDS 7-10.

Body moderately elongate, compressed. Head slightly depressed; jaws subequal; mental frenum well developed; anterior margin of tongue near truncate or rounded; gill opening not extending anteriorly to a vertical through preopercular margin. Pelvic fins united medially; frenum present. Scales on body ctenoid posteriorly, cycloid anteriorly; head naked. Sensory canals and pores present on head; longitudinal pattern of sensory-papillae rows on cheek; a pair of sensory papillae just behind mental frenum. Color: body pale brown dorsally, whitish ventrally, with dusky mottles; a dusky blotch just behind eye; pupil-sized black spot on upper half of caudal-fin base; several black dots on ventral surface of head. Size: 2.5 cm SL. Distribution: Indo-West Pacific. Remarks: found in shallow coral reefs.