Pomatoschistus tortonesei Miller, 1968 (Fig. 71)—Tortonese’s Goby

Pomatoschistus tortonesei Miller, 1968: 221; type locality: Mediterranean Sea, Italy, Sicily, Marsala .

Size. Maximum size 3.7 cm total length (Miller 1986).

Morphology. D VI (V–VI) + I,6–8; A I,6–8; P 17–20 (Miller 1986). Small goby, with relatively robust subcylindrical body, laterally compressed towards caudal fin. Head slightly depressed and moderately large. Snout short. Eyes dorsolateral, interorbital space moderately narrow. Caudal peduncle slender, distinctly lower than body depth, more slender in females. First dorsal fin about equal to or lower than second dorsal fin, with more or less rounded margin. Caudal fin rounded. Scales visible on dead specimens from reticulate pattern of pigmentation along scale edges, visibility on live specimens unknown (Miller 1986).

Freshly dead coloration. Body fawn with darker ferruginous reticulation. Usually 2 suborbital bars (with a pale area in between), one from anterior edge of eye to upper lip, a second one from rear edge of eye to corner of mouth; occasionally a dark bar at the junction of preopercle and opercle. Females with 3 conspicuous thin dark bars on posterior body (behind anus); bright yellow branchiostegal membrane (under head) and sometimes a yellow abdomen; a dark mark on chin (Fig. 71). Males with numerous, poorly-defined, vertical dark markings across sides; dark pelvic fins, breast and branchiostegal membrane (Miller 1986).

Similar species. P. marmoratus, P. microps, P. quagga .

Habitat. Infralittoral species, in lagoons, from brackish to slightly hypersaline, in shallows on sand near seagrass (Miller 1986).

Geographic distribution. Mediterranean. Recorded from the central and southern Mediterranean from Sicily, Libya and Tunisia (Miller 1986; Mejri et al. 2009b).