Elacatinus horsti

Elacatinus horsti
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Gobiidae
Subfamily: Gobiinae
Genus: Elacatinus
Species: E. horsti
Binomial name
Elacatinus horsti
(Metzelaar, 1922)
Synonyms
  • Gobiosoma horsti Metzelaar, 1922

Elacatinus horsti, the Yellowline goby, is a species of goby native to the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Description

The yellowline goby grows to 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in length. It has a rounded snout and a long slim body. The upper parts are black and the underside is grey gradually paling to white. Some fish have a bright yellow stripe running along each side from the eye to the tail, with often a yellow spot or short line on the snout. In juvenile fish this stripe is shorter and extends just beyond the base of the pectoral fin. Young Elacatinus chancei are very similar in appearance but in that species, the yellow line hardly reaches the pectoral fin. In another form of the fish, the stripe is white, paling to a bluish-grey colour beyond the pectoral fin. The dorsal fin is in two parts and has seven spines and eleven to twelve soft rays, the pectoral fin eighteen rays and the anal fin has a single spine and ten soft rays.[1][2]

Distribution

The yellowline goby is found on the Gulf Coast of the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas, Curaçao and Panama. It is found on reefs at depths between 7 and 27 metres (23 and 89 ft).[1]

Biology

The yellowline goby is always found living in association with a tubular sponge such as Verongia aerophoba or a massive sponge such as Neofibularia nolitangere and feeding on the parasitic worms Haplosyllis spongicola that live in large numbers on these sponges.[3] It also eats other invertebrates that live on the seabed and plankton.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Elacatinus horsti (Metzelaar, 1922)". FishBase. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
  2. ↑ "Elacatinus horsti Metzelaar 1922". Gobioid Research Institute. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
  3. ↑ Colin, Patrick L. (1978). Marine Invertebrates and Plants of the Living Reef. T.F.H. Publications. p. 111. ISBN 0-86622-875-6.
  4. ↑ "Elacatinus horsti". Saltcorner. Retrieved 2012-09-13.
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