Aturiri’s Pygmy Goby

This species is unique in the having the following characters: 2 dark oblique stripes on either side of the pupil (blue, edged with red in life, dark brown in preservative), the lower one continues posteriorly across the dorsal margin of the opercle; bipartite colour pattern - dorsal half of the body red or orange, ventral half abruptly white or pale pink in life; with a narrow bony interorbital (?50 % pupil width), a moderate interorbital trench with a slight groove posterodorsal to the eye; cheek, opercle and predorsal midline are scaleless; without elongate spines in the first dorsal fin; D2 I,9-10; A 9; pectoral fin rays 17-18 (7-11 are branched); an unbranched fifth pelvic fin ray (Ref. 102609).

Dorsal spines (total): 7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 10; Analspines: 1; Analsoft rays: 9 - 10

Often found perched individually on vertical surfaces at the back of crevices and overhangs. Collected with clove oil from exposed oceanic atoll with clear water, steep outer wall with small crevices and overhangs, coarse white coralline sand (38 m) and steep outer reef slope with white calcareous sand (40 m); the holotype from steep wall covered with coarse white Halimeda sand (60 m) (Ref. 102609).