Abstract
During 2006-2017, we made a series of observations of Boleophthalmus pectinirostris on the east coast of South Sumatra province and Bangka island, Sumatra, Indonesia. This species is very similar to B. boddarti, in size, external morphological characters and behaviour. In this paper, we discuss the external morphological differences between B. pectinirostris and B. boddarti. Records of B. pectinirostris in southern Sumatra increase the known distribution range of this species 800 km southwards, indicating that this species was previously confused with B. boddarti in Indonesian waters.
Highlights
The prospect of identifying gobies fills many people with more than a little consternation [1]
In a cladistic analysis of the Oxudercinae subfamily of the Gobiidae, based on osteological, eco-ethological and morphological characters [4], the three genera of oxudercine gobies (Boleophthalmus Valenciennes, 1837, Periophthalmus Bloch & Schneider, 1801, and Periophthalmodon Bleeker, 1874), were grouped in the same clade with the following shared characteristics: the abductor superficialis muscle of the pectoral fin is divided into two sections; and the neurocranial cavities are anteriorly enlarged, with a curved frontal interorbital bridge which overlaps with the ethmoid bones [4,5]
Similar species to B. pectinirostris include large to medium mudskippers that occur in western Indonesian waters as summarised [13,14]: Boleopthalmus boddarti, Periopthalmodon schlosseri, Pn. septemradiatus, Periophthalmus argentilianus, P. chrysospilos, P. kalolo and P. malaccensis
Summary
The prospect of identifying gobies fills many people with more than a little consternation [1]. A few specimens of Boleophthalmus pectinirostris were observed and photographed during 2006-2017, on the east coast of South Sumatra Province and Bangka Island, Sumatra, Indonesia. The similarity of B. pectinirostris and B. boddarti in size, external morphological characters and behaviour could be the reason why this species is apparently almost absent from Sumatran or Indonesian waters.
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