Hazeus ingressus Engin, Larson & Erhan, 2018

Kovačić, Marcelo, Renoult, Julien P., Pillon, Roberto, Svensen, Rudolf, Bogorodsky, Sergey V., Engin, Semih & Louisy, Patrick, 2022, Identification of Mediterranean marine gobies (Actinopterygii: Gobiidae) of the continental shelf from photographs of in situ individuals, Zootaxa 5144 (1), pp. 1-103 : 66

Hazeus ingressus Engin, Larson & Erhan, 2018 ( Fig. 35 )—Invaded Sand Goby

Hazeus ingressus Engin, Larson & Irmak, 2018: 318 ; eastern mediterranean, Turkey, Fethiye.

Size. Largest specimen examined 3.7 cm total length.

Morphology. D VI + I,8; A I,8–9; P 17–18. Body moderately elongate, the depth 5.0– 6.3 in standard length. Stout head with slightly rounded snout and large eyes extending slightly above dorsal profile. Caudal peduncle deep, but lower than body depth. First spine of first and second dorsal fins stout and sharp-tipped; third spine of the first dorsal fin slightly longest but not elongate. Caudal fin rounded, shorter than head length. Body, nape, cheek and opercle scaled, but scales not visible or poorly visible on live specimen photographs (Engin et al. 2018).

Live coloration. Pale gray with numerous small irregular brown spots on body and dorsally on head, and a row of 5 irregular blackish blotches along midside ( Fig. 35 ), first below first dorsal fin, fifth on caudal-fin base. Head with brown marking below orbit. Second dorsal fin with brown streaks along rays. No rows of elongate spots on cheek and no longitudinal eye stripe ( Fig. 33b ).

Similar species. Gobius incognitus , G. bucchichi .

Habitat. Inhabits sand bottom in sheltered bays and lagoons at depth of 5–37 m (Engin et al. 2018).

Geographic distribution. Only known from the type specimens collected at Fethiye on the Levantine coast of Turkey, eastern Mediterranean Sea. It was later observed in Abu Dabab lagoon, Marsa Alam, Egypt on silty sand bottom (based on an unpublished photograph provided by B. Hazes).

Figures

FIGURE 33. The mouth unmarked at corner in A) G. bucchichi and B) H. ingressus. Dark dot on the corner of the mouth in C) G. auratus, D) G. incognitus, E) G. xanthocephalus and F) G. fallax. Area marked with hollow circle. Photos by R. Svensen (A), S. Engin (B), M. Kovačić (C, D, F), and P. Louisy (E). C and F photographed in a tank.

FIGURE 35. Live coloration in its natural habitat of Hazeus ingressus. Photo by S. Engin, Fethiye, Turkey, Levant.