Ctenogobius smaragdus
Emerald Goby
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Gobiidae (Gobies)
Ctenogobius
Ctenogobius smaragdus (Emerald Goby)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Mouth is subterminal and slightly oblique; upper jaw extends to about middle of eye in females and to about posterior margin of eye in males; lips are thin; upper lip is free at symphysis; jaw teeth are arranged in several rows; outer teeth of upper jaw are enlarged and increase in size toward corner of mouth; inner teeth on either side of symphysis are enlarged in lower jaw; tongue is emarginate but not bilobed; gill opening extends ventrally below pectoral fin base; measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 22.3%–28.6%, snout length 7.1%–11.8%, eye diameter 5.4%–8.8%, upper jaw length 8.1%–13.6%, pectoral fin length 19.4%–25.3%, pelvic fin length 17.8%–24.7%; pectoral fin has 15 to 18 rays; first dorsal fin has six spines, and second has one spine and 9 to 11 rays; pelvic fins are united by membrane to form broad disc, and pelvic fin spines are joined by frenum; anal fin has one spine and 10 or 11 rays; predorsal region has about 11 scale rows; scales in horizontal series number about 40; a pair of sensory pores is located between eyes; vertebrae number 26: 10 precaudal and 16 caudal
Color in life is tan to dusky, with green spots outlined with bronze rings on sides of head and body; a green spot is located in mouth, and a dark spot is present on shoulder; in preservative, green spots on head and body appear as light spots surrounded by darker pigment; black circles on side of head and a dark spot above pectoral fin base
Distribution
western Atlantic from North Carolina to Cuba and Brazil, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico from Charlotte Harbor to Florida Bay
Habitat Associations
associated with mangroves and stagnant backwater habitats
Biology
Maximum known size is 100 mm TL; males have longer caudal fins than females
Adults inhabit shallow, muddy bottoms of the continental shelf, often in turbid waters. Usually found among algae. A euryhaline species (Ref. 13628), with salinity ranging from 0.0 to 42.9 ppt (Ref. 97140). Also Ref. 7251.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2010-03-01. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Pezold 1984
Robins and Ray 1986
Smith 1997
Murdy and Hoese 2002b
Cervigón, F. (1994) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 3. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 295 p.
Claro, R. (1994) Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
Greenfield, D.W. and J.E. Thomerson (1997) Fishes of the continental waters of Belize. University Press of Florida, Florida. 311 p.
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