Lebetus guilleti ( Le Danois, 1913 )

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 : 67

Lebetus guilleti ( Le Danois, 1913) ( Fig. 8 )—Guillet’s Goby

Gobius (Lebetus) scorpioides var. guilleti Le Danois, 1913: 91 , type locality: western Mediterranean Sea , northwestern France, on English Channel, Morlaix Bay.

Size. Maximum known size 2.0 cm total length ( Schliewen et al. 2019).

Morphology. D VI + I,7–9; A I,4-6; P 14-15 ( Herler & Kovačić 2002). Small goby with subcylindrical body, laterally compressed towards caudal fin. Head slightly depressed and fairly long, snout short, eyes large and close together. Caudal peduncle deep, but lower than body depth. First dorsal fin higher than the second dorsal fin; no elongated spines, but breeding males with notably enlarged, sail-like first dorsal fin. Caudal fin rounded. Body covered with scales ( Herler & Kovačić 2002), which are poorly visible on live specimen photographs ( Fig. 8 ).

Live coloration. Head and most predorsal area grayish in males, brownish in females. Body with a pattern of alternating dark and pale, slightly oblique broad bars. A white area below the first dorsal fin, followed by a well obliquely-delineated dark area between bases of second dorsal and anal fins (which contains an oblong white spot ventrally), contrasting with a plain white caudal peduncle ( Fig. 8 ). Rear caudal peduncle and caudal-fin base dark brown. White body area extending onto most of pectoral fin. Additional narrow rusty red bars can be present over pale and dark areas below dorsal fins. Males’ enlarged first dorsal fin grayish to white with 2-3, often faint, oblique yellow to orange bands, second dorsal fin with black margin, 4 oblique yellow to orange bands and sometimes a large blue-edged black blotch on its anterior corner. Females’ triangular first dorsal fin white to graybrown with a small green round spot between fifth and sixth spines, second dorsal fin somewhat transparent, both dorsal fins with visible or indistinct oblique orange bands ( Herler & Kovačić 2002; Hope & Shucksmith 2010; Schliewen et al. 2019).

Similar species. Lebetus patzneri , Speleogobius trigloides .

Habitat. Infralittoral and circalittoral species, known from 2–67 m depth on stone, shell, gravel, coralligenous or red algae beds bottoms ( Engin et al. 2015; Schliewen et al. 2019).

Geographic distribution. The northeastern Atlantic, from Normandy to Norway, as well as in the Mediterranean, including the northwestern Mediterranean, Adriatic Sea and the Sea of Marmara (Miller 1986; Engin et al. 2015; Schliewen et al. 2019).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Live coloration in its natural habitat of Lebetus guilleti. Photo by J. Herler, Selce, Croatia, Northern Adriatic Sea.