Lythrypnus dalli
Bluebanded Goby
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Gobiidae (Gobies)
Lythrypnus
Lythrypnus dalli (Bluebanded Goby)
Description
This species account was compiled from
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal.
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: Gulf of California to Ecuador and north of Perú.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 0-76 m.
Biology
Found usually in open rocky areas but retreats to crevices or holes or hides among spines of sea urchins when threatened. Territorial. Sits on exposed rock surfaces near a hole or crevice. Feeds mainly on small crustaceans. Oviparous (Ref. 56079). Males guard the eggs which are found attached to the walls of brood chamber (Ref. 56079). Female deposits oblong eggs in empty shells; male guards them. Often found with Lythrypnus zebra.
Max length: 6.4 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: protogyny; fertilization: external; mating system: promiscuity; guarders (nesters); parental care: paternal. Oviparous, demersal spawner (Ref. 101194). Both male and female spawn with many individuals in small contiguous territories (Ref. 240). Males guard the eggs which are found attached to the walls of brood chamber (Ref. 56079). Simultaneous hermaphrodite with varying allocation of reproductive tissue to male and female function (Ref. 31569). Bi-directional sex change has been confirmed for this species (Ref. 103751).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2024-02-15. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Thresher, R.E. (1984) Reproduction in reef fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Neptune City, New Jersey. 399 p.
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
St. Mary, C.M. (1993) Novel sexual patterns in two simultaneously hermaphroditic gobies, Lythrypnus dalli and Lythrypnus zebra. Copeia 1993(4):1062-1072.
Watson, W. (1996) Gobiidae: gobies. p. 1214-1245. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 p.
Hooker, Y. (2009) Nuevos registros de peces costeros tropicales para el Perú. [New records of coastal tropical fish in Peru]. Rev. peru. Biol. 16(1):033- 041.
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