Buenia affinis Iljin, 1930 (Fig. 41)—De Buen’s Goby

Buenia affinis Iljin, 1930: 51, Figs. 33–34; no type locality stated.

Size. Maximum known size 3.8 cm total length (Kovačić 2002b).

Morphology. D VI + I,8; A I,7; P 15–16 (Kovačić 2002b). Small goby with subcylindrical body, laterally compressed towards caudal fin. Head slightly depressed and fairly long. Eyes large and close together, with narrow interorbital space. Caudal peduncle slender, clearly lower than body depth. Dorsal fins of similar height, first dorsal fin more or less with rounded edge with no elongate spines. Caudal fin rounded. Scales visible on upper body only by reticulate pattern of pigmentation along scale edges.

Live coloration. Body dorsally mainly brown or beige with 4–5 well-defined, usually dark-edged, pale dorsal saddles, each terminating with a midlateral dark blotch; ventral half of body abruptly white with 10–12 narrow brownish bars (Fig. 41). The cheek below orbit with darkened rectangular area formed by many small close-set dark dots. Typically 2 parallel dark dashes between eye and upper lip (Fig. 41a): lower one broad and always visible, the upper one thin and sometimes hard to see (Fig. 41b). Iris and eye rim dark gray to dark brown, often with well-defined light gray dots (Fig. 41). First dorsal fin very lightly pigmented, sometimes appearing transparent. When visible, fin with 2 white longitudinal stripes alternating with 3 brown-yellow bands; sometimes small blackish dot in the posterior fin corner. No specific sexual dichromatism reported (Kovačić 2002b).

Similar species. Buenia massutii, Pomatoschistus adriaticus, P. bathi, P. quagga .

Habitat. Infralittoral and circalittoral species, known from 1–48 m depth on coarse and medium grain sand bottoms (Kovačić 2002b; Kovačić et al. 2018).

Geographic distribution. Mediterranean Sea. Recorded from the Balearic Islands (Kovačić et al. 2018), France (Kovačić & Patzner 2009; Duhau et al. 2019; P. Louisy & P. Renoult, unpublished observations), Naples (Sanzo 1911), Croatia in the Kvarner area (Kovačić 2002b) and Mljet Island (Kovačić et al. 2012b), Turkey, from Yeni Foça-Çakmaklý Island, Izmir in the Aegean Sea and Erdek-Horkos Island in the Sea of Marmara (Engin et al. 2014).