COMMENTS
v. 29.0 – 10 Oct. 2024 view/download PDF
Family GOBIIDAE Gobies (Rhinogobiops through Zebrus)
Taxonomic note: includes taxa formerly included in the families Kraemeriidae, Microdesmidae and Schindleriidae.
Rhinogobiops Hubbs 1926 –ops, appearance, i.e., similar to Rhinogobius (Oxudercidae)
Rhinogobiops nicholsii (Bean 1882) in honor of Capt. Henry E. Nichols (d. 1899), U.S. Navy, commander of the United States Coast and Geogetic Survey steamer Hassler through the inland waters of British Columbia and southern Alaska; he “secured” type and preserved 31 species in total, all in a state of “excellent preservation”; in fact, Bean wrote, “It is due to Captain Nichols to say that no better-preserved lot of fishes has been received from any other collector.”
Risor Ginsburg 1933 one who laughs, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to tusk-like teeth protruding below flaring upper lip of Garmannia binghami (=R. ruber)
Risor ruber (Rosén 1911) red, referring to its brownish-red coloration
Robinsichthys Birdsong 1988 in honor of C. Richard Robins (1928-2020), for his many contributions to our knowledge of American gobies; ichthys, fish
Robinsichthys arrowsmithensis Birdsong 1988 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Arrowsmith Bank, Caribbean Sea, type locality
Robinsichthys nigrimarginatus Tornabene, Manning, Robertson, Van Tassell & Baldwin 2022 nigro-, black; marginatus, bordered referring to black margins on dorsal and caudal fins
Schindleria Giltay 1934 –ia, belonging to: German zoologist Otto Schindler (1906-1959), who described the first two species in the genus
Schindleria brevipinguis Watson & Walker 2004 brevis, short, referring to its size, reaching 8.4 mm SL, believed at the time to be the world’s smallest vertebrate; pinguis, stout, referring to deeper, broader body compared to congeners
Schindleria edentata Ahnelt, Robitzch & Abu El-Regal 2022 e-, without; dentatus, toothed, referring to absence of teeth in both jaws
Schindleria elongata Fricke & Abu El-Regal 2017 elongate, referring to more slender body compared to the closely related S. brevipinguis
Schindleria macrodentata Ahnelt & Sauberer 2018 macro-, large; dentata, toothed, referring to large, widely spaced teeth in upper and lower jaws (7 on premaxilla and 6 on dentary)
Schindleria multidentata Ahnelt 2020 multi-, many; dentata, toothed, referring to numerous tiny and densely set teeth in upper and lower jaws
Schindleria nana Ahnelt, Macek & Robitzch 2024 Latin for dwarf (adjective), referring to its small size (<13 mm TL)
Schindleria nigropunctata Fricke & Abu El-Regal 2017 niger, black; punctatus, spotted, referring to black melanophores on body
Schindleria parva El-Regal, El-Sherbiny, Gabr & Fricke 2021 small; at 11.9 mm TL, probably the smallest Schindleria species in the Red Sea
Schindleria pietschmanni (Schindler 1931) in honor of ichthyologist Viktor Pietschmann (1881-1956), who collected type
Schindleria praematura (Schindler 1930) premature, a neotenic fish, presumed to be a sexually mature larval halfbeak (Beloniformes: Hemiramphidae) at time of description
Schindleria qizma Ahnelt, Macek & Robitzch 2023 from the Arabic word qizm, dwarf, reflecting its occurrence in the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia and referring its very small size (up to 10.9 mm SL)
Schindleria squirei Robitzch, Landaeta & Ahnelt 2023 in honor of Chris Squire (1948-2015), a musician, singer and songwriter who composed the song “The Fish (Schindleria praematurus)” from the 1971 album Fragile of the progressive rock band Yes
Signigobius Hoese & Allen 1977 signus, mark, referring to distinctive ocellated spot on both dorsal fins; gobius, goby
Signigobius biocellatus Hoese & Allen 1977 bi-, two; ocellatus, eye-spotted, referring to distinctive ocellated spot on both dorsal fins
Silhouettea Smith 1959 –ea, adjectival suffix: Silhouette, Seychelles, western Indian Ocean, locality of type species, S. insinuans
Silhouettea aegyptia (Chabanaud 1933) Egyptian, referring to Lake Timsah, Suez Canal, Egypt, type locality
Silhouettea capitlineata Randall 2008 capit, head; lineata, lined, referring to four dark lines that extend ventrally from eye
Silhouettea dotui (Takagi 1957) in honor of Yosie Dôtu (also spelled Yoshie Dotsu, see Dotsugobius), Fisheries Laboratory, Kyushu University, “ardent contributor to the goby life-history,” who collected type
Silhouettea evanida Larson & Miller 1986 disappearing or vanishing, referring to how it rapidly conceals itself in mud flats when alarmed
Silhouettea flavoventris (Herre 1927) flavus, yellow; ventris, belly, referring to “butter yellow” on belly and lower part of sides in alcohol
Silhouettea ghazalae Kovačić, Sadeghi & Esmaeili 2020 in honor of Ghazal, daughter of the third author
Silhouettea hoesei Larson & Miller 1986 in honor of ichthyologist Douglass F. Hoese (b. 1942), Australian Museum (Sydney), for his work on the systematics of Indo-Pacific gobies
Silhouettea indica Visweswara Rao 1971 –ica, belonging to: India, representing an Indian species of a genus previously known only from Africa
Silhouettea insinuans Smith 1959 penetrating, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its living in sand
Silhouettea nuchipunctata (Herre 1934) nuchi-, nuchal; punctatus, spotted, referring to conspicuous milk-white nuchal spot
Silhouettea sibayi Farquharson 1970 named for Lake Sibayi (also spelled Sibhayi), east coast of South Africa, where it is endemic
Stonogobiops Polunin & Lubbock 1977 stonyx, sharp point, referring to large vomerine teeth of S. dracula; gobius, goby and ops, appearance
Stonogobiops dracula Polunin & Lubbock 1977 named for Bram Stoker’s fictional vampire Count Dracula, who was endowed with peculiarly sharp white teeth, not unlike this species
Stonogobiops larsonae (Allen 1999) in honor of Helen Larson, Curator of Fishes, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Darwin, Australia), for her work in gobiid taxonomy
Sueviota minersorum Greenfield, Erdman & Utama 2019 –orum, commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of Andrew and Marit Miners, who “founded the Misool EcoResort in Raja Ampat Islands and whose superlative efforts in conservation and sustainable economic development in the region have dramatically improved the health and biomass of the thriving reefs” where this goby was discovered
Stonogobiops medon Hoese & Randall 1982 Greek for guard or sentinel, referring to symbiotic role of this (and other) shrimp-associated gobies, which protect the burrow both the goby and 1-2 alpheid shrimps inhabit
Stonogobiops nematodes Hoese & Randall 1982 –oides, having the form of: nemato, thread, i.e., thread-like or filamentous, referring to long black filament on first dorsal fin
Stonogobiops pentafasciatus Iwata & Hirata 1994 penta-, five; fasciata, banded, referring to five black bars on head and body
Stonogobiops xanthorhinicus Hoese & Randall 1982 xanthos, yellow; rhinos, snout, referring to bright-yellow color of anterior part of head, including most of snout
Stonogobiops yasha Yoshino & Shimada 2001 yasha, a traditional female devil in Japan, having a long pair of canines on upper jaw, referring to this goby’s large prevomerine teeth
Sueviota Winterbottom & Hoese 1988 Sue, in honor of Susan Jewett (formerly Karnella, b. 1945), Collection Manager, Division of Fishes, Smithsonian Institution, who co-authored the descriptions of several new species of Eviota, to which this genus is most closely related (pronounced “Sue-viota”)
Sueviota aethon Nunes Peinemann, Pombo-Ayora & Tornabene 2024 named for Aethon, one of the four horses that pulled the chariot of the sun god Helios across the sky, described as most similar to S. aethon, named after a different horse of Helios
Sueviota aprica Winterbottom & Hoese 1988 sunny, referring to eye-sized, brick-red, round spot on occipital region, reminiscent of the setting sun
Sueviota atrinasa Winterbottom & Hoese 1988 ater, black; nasus, nose, referring to jet-black anterior nasal tubes
Sueviota bryozophila Allen, Erdmann & Cahyani 2016 philios, loving, referring to its association with bryozoan colonies
Sueviota lachneri Winterbottom & Hoese 1988 in honor of Ernest A. Lachner (1916-1996), curator of fishes at the U.S. National Museum, for his work on Indo-Pacific gobiids, “which has resulted in small pockets of order in the chaotic systematic morass generally prevalent in this group”
Sueviota larsonae Winterbottom & Hoese 1988 in honor of Helen Larson, Curator of Fishes, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Darwin, Australia), for her contributions to the systematics of gobioid fishes
Sueviota pyrios Greenfield & Randall 2017 pyrios, one of the four horses that pulled the chariot of the sun god Helios across the sky, referring to this goby’s orange-red coloration [see also S. aethon]
Sueviota tubicola Allen & Erdmann 2017 –cola, dweller or inhabitant, referring to its association with worm tubes
Sufflogobius Smith 1956 sufflatus, puffed up or inflated, referring to its ability to inflate its body cavity with air and/or water, apparently the first case of self-inflation in fishes of this type; gobius, goby
Sufflogobius bibarbatus (von Bonde 1923) bi-, two; barbatus, bearded, referring to single barbel on each side of chin near symphysis of mandibles
Thorogobius Miller 1969 Thor, Danish research vessel, on whose 1910 cruise a unique Mediterranean specimen of Gobius thori (=T. ephippiatus) was secured; gobius, goby
Thorogobius alvheimi Sauberer, Iwamoto & Ahnelt 2018 in honor of Oddgeir Alvheim (b. 1944), Institute of Marine Research (Bergen, Norway), for his many photographic contributions to the FAO Species Identification Guides and for his assistance and advice to the second author during three surveys aboard the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, during which type was collected in 2005
Thorogobius angolensis (Norman 1935) –ensis, suffix denoting place: off the coast of Angola, type locality (occurs in eastern Atlantic from Senegal to Angola)
Thorogobius ephippiatus (Lowe 1839) saddled, presumably referring to a row of “rich brown patches along the sides”
Thorogobius laureatus Sauberer, Iwamoto & Ahnelt 2018 crowned with a laurel, referring to shape of scaled areas in predorsal region
Thorogobius macrolepis (Kolombatović 1891) macro-, large; lepis, scale, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its relatively large scales (27-28 along lateral line) for a Mediterranean goby
Thorogobius rofeni Miller 1988 in honor of ichthyologist Robert R. Rofen (formerly Harry, 1925-2015), for his work on the systematics of both gobioid and deep-sea fishes, including earlier examination of the type material
Tigrigobius Fowler 1931 tigris, tiger, allusion not explained, probably referring to dark, “strong contrasted cross bands” on body (reminiscent of tiger stripes) and/or large canine teeth of T. macrodon; gobius, goby
Tigrigobius digueti (Pellegrin 1901) in honor of Léon Diguet (1859-1926), French chemist, naturalist and explorer, who collected specimens in México (including type of this one) for the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris)
Tigrigobius dilepis (Robins & Böhlke 1964) di-, two; lepis, scale, referring to two scales on each side of caudal-fin base
Tigrigobius gemmatus (Ginsburg 1939) jeweled, referring to a very small and elongate spot, “set like a jewel,” in every ray joint in a large median area near base of caudal fin
Tigrigobius harveyi Victor 2014 in honor of Jamaican marine wildlife artist Guy Harvey (b. 1955), for his “extensive support” for research and conservation of sharks and gamefishes in the Cayman Islands; he established the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale (Florida, USA), and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation
Tigrigobius inornatus (Bussing 1990) unadorned, referring to absence of crossbars on body, unlike the barred T. nesiotes
Tigrigobius janssi (Bussing 1981) in honor of real estate developer and recreational diver Edwin Janss, Jr. (1915-1989), for supporting and encourageming research in marine sciences; all (then) known specimens of this goby were collected from the R/V Searcher of the Janss Foundation
Tigrigobius limbaughi (Hoese & Reader 2001) in honor of zoologist, diver and underwater photographer Conrad Limbaugh (1925-1960), for his “pioneering” 1961 work on the symbiotic cleaning behavior of marine organisms (like this goby) [authors give forename as “Clyde”; he died after losing his way while diving in the labyrinth of an underground river in France]
Tigrigobius macrodon (Beebe & Tee-Van 1928) macro-, large; odon, tooth, referring to pair of large canines in both jaws
Tigrigobius multifasciatus (Steindachner 1876) multi-, many; fasciatus, banded, referring to 16-17 bright green, sharply demarcated transverse bands on sides separated from each other by narrow, white stripes
Tigrigobius nesiotes (Bussing 1990) islander, known only from Galápagos Islands, Cocos Island and Gorgona Island
Tigrigobius pallens (Ginsburg 1939) pallid, referring to its light yellowish color, paler than the similar T. macrodon
Tigrigobius panamensis (Victor 2014) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Panama, type locality (but known range extends eastward to Colombia and westward to the Costa Rican border)
Tigrigobius redimiculus (Taylor & Akins 2007) a ribbon that is sometimes attached to side of headdress then passed over shoulders to drape across each side of breast, or decoratively woven or plaited into hair, referring to reddish-orange bands or “ribbons” that drape down across nape and anterior trunk
Tigrigobius rubrigenis (Victor 2010) ruber, red; genis, cheek, referring to distinctive red stripe on cheek
Tigrigobius saucrus (Robins 1960) saucra, Greek for graceful or pretty, described as a “strikingly spotted species”
Tigrigobius zebrellus (Robins 1958) diminutive of zebra, referring to its banded color pattern
Tomiyamichthys Smith 1956 in honor of ichthyologist (sometimes spelled Ichiro) Tomiyama (1906-1981), Tokyo Imperial University, who described type species, T. oni, in 1936; ichthys, fish
Tomiyamichthys alleni Iwata, Ohnishi & Hirata 2000 in honor of ichthyologist Gerald R. Allen (b. 1942), Western Australia Museum (Perth), “in grateful thanks for his considerable assistance in the study of gobioid fishes, given to the senior author”
Tomiyamichthys dorsostigma Bogorodsky, Kovačić & Randall 2011 dorso-, back; stigma, mark, referring to distinctive black-and-white spot distally on third membrane of first dorsal fin
Tomiyamichthys elliotensis Allen, Erdmann & Dudgeon 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lady Elliot Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia, type locality
Tomiyamichthys emilyae Allen, Erdmann & Utama 2019 in honor of Canadian diver Emily Irving, who has accompanied and assisted the authors on numerous ichthyological expeditions and is a dedicated supporter of marine conservation and exploration efforts worldwide; she also co-sponsored expedition during which type was collected
Tomiyamichthys eyreae Allen, Erdmann & Mongdong 2020 in honor of Janet Van Sickle Eyre (b. 1955), diver and volunteer (Reef Environmental Education Foundation), whose efforts led to the discovery and description of this goby, and whose “excellent” underwater survey and observational skills have “greatly added to our knowledge of coral reef fish distribution”
Tomiyamichthys fourmanoiri (Smith 1956) in honor of Pierre Fourmanoir (1924-2007), FAO Regional Fisheries Officer, Madagascar, “who found this fish”
Tomiyamichthys gomezi Allen & Erdmann 2012 in honor of Edgardo D. Gomez (b. 1938), former Director of the Marine Sciences Institute, University of the Philippines, for his numerous and invaluable contributions to the advancement of marine science
Tomiyamichthys lanceolatus (Yanagisawa 1978) referring to symmetrically lanceolate caudal fin, longer than head
Tomiyamichthys latruncularius (Klausewitz 1974) chessboard, referring to checkered pattern on first dorsal fin
Tomiyamichthys levisquama Hoese, Shibukawa & Johnson 2016 levis, smooth; squama, scale, referring to its cycloid scales (some congeners have ctenoid scales)
Tomiyamichthys nudus Allen & Erdmann 2012 bare or naked, referring to its lack of scales
Tomiyamichthys oni (Tomiyama 1936) from its Japanese name, Oni-haze (haze=goby)
Tomiyamichthys praealta (Lachner & McKinney 1981) very high, referring to “unusually” long first four elements of spinous (first) dorsal fin
Tomiyamichthys reticulatus Greenfield 2017 net-like, referring to many oblong orange spots encircled with white lines forming a reticulated pattern on first dorsal fin
Tomiyamichthys russus (Cantor 1849) red, presumably referring to its “[f]lesh or pale salmon-coloured” body
Tomiyamichthys smithi (Chen & Fang 2003) in honor of J. L. B. Smith (1897-1968), for describing Flabelligobius (original genus, now a junior synonym of Tomiyamichthys) and his “great ichthyological achievements for the Southern Hemisphere”
Tomiyamichthys stuarti Allen, Erdmann & Brooks 2018 in honor of Stuart Mathews Brooks, the third author’s son (see also Gobiopsis jackbrooksi and Priolepis billbrooksi)
Tomiyamichthys tanyspilus Randall & Chen 2007 tany, long; spilus, spot, referring to elongate shape of its five midlateral dark-brown spots
Tomiyamichthys zonatus Allen 2015 belted or girdled, referring to diagnostic brown bars on ventral body of males
Trimma Jordan & Seale 1906 anything rubbed or crushed, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to “firmer” texture and/or “less translucent” color compared to the similar Eviota
Trimma abyssum Allen 2015 the deep sea, referring to its unusually deep habitat (107 m) in comparison with most gobiid fishes
Trimma agrena Winterbottom & Chen 2004 agrenon, Greek for net, referring to mesh-like pattern on body formed by strongly outlined scale pockets
Trimma albicaudatum Wada, Takase & Senou 2022 albus, white; caudatum, tailed, referring to distinctive white coloration of caudal peduncle and caudal fin in life
Trimma anaima Winterbottom 2000 bloodless, pale or anemic, referring to its “pale, almost washed-out” coloration
Trimma annosum Winterbottom 2003 full of years, long lived or aged, referring to its plain gray cheeks, reminiscent of some elderly, bearded human males
Trimma anthrenum Winterbottom 2006 wild bee, wasp or hornet, a “perhaps fanciful allusion” to the aposematic coloration of yellow with black stripes (at bases of dorsal and anal fins)
Trimma aturirii Winterbottom, Erdmann & Cahyani 2015 in honor of Abraham Atururi (b. 1950), Governor of West Papua province from 2006-2016, for his “energetic efforts to ensure the conservation and wise, sustainable use of the hugely diverse coral reefs of the Bird’s Head Seascape [where this goby occurs] for the benefit of the Papuan people” [note: since the authors consistently misspelled the Governor’s name as “Aturiri,” it does not represent a typo or printer’s error and therefore cannot be corrected]
Trimma avidori (Goren 1978) in honor of ichthyologist A. Avidor, Tel Aviv University, who collected type
Trimma barralli Winterbottom 1995 in honor of Glen E. Barrall, dive master and underwater photographer “par excellance,” who provided Winterbottom with many “superb” slides of species of Trimma in their natural habitat, including those used in the description of this one
Trimma bathum Winterbottom 2017 latinization of the Greek bathos, deep or deep water, referring to depth at which it was collected (50-90 m)
Trimma benjamini Winterbottom 1996 in honor of Peter Benjamin of Benjamin Film Laboratory (Toronto), who provided Winterbottom with free 35mm film and processing over the past two decades and who has participated in several collecting expeditions
Trimma bisella Winterbottom 2000 bi-, two; sella, saddle, referring to two white saddle-like markings on dorsal and ventral margins of caudal peduncle
Trimma blematium Winterbottom & Erdmann 2018 ble, blue; matium, eyed, referring to distinctive blue dorsal surfaces of its eyes
Trimma burridgeae Winterbottom 2016 in honor of Mary Elizabeth Burridge, for her extensive work in revising the genus Priolepis, her ongoing work on barcoding Trimma spp., her field work collecting fishes in the Philippines and Viêt Nam, and her extensive contributions to the maintenance of the fish and frozen tissue collections at the Royal Ontario Museum
Trimma caesiura Jordan & Seale 1906 caesius, bluish-gray; ouros, tail, referring to gray spot on back of caudal fin
Trimma cana Winterbottom 2004 latinization of first three letters of both the Anglo-Saxon words candy and cane, referring to its candy cane-like red bands on a white body
Trimma capostriatum (Goren 1981) caputus, head; striatus, striped, referring to alternating red and charcoal-blue stripes on head
Trimma caudipunctatum Suzuki & Senou 2009 cauda-, tail; punctatum, spotted, referring to “distinctive polka dots” on caudal fin
Trimma caudomaculatum Yoshino & Araga 1975 caudo-, tail; maculatum, spotted, referring to darkish red blotch at caudal base
Trimma cavicapum Winterbottom, Brighton & Mason-Parker 2024 an “arbitrary combination of letters”: ca-, from caeruleus, dark blue (but used here to mean blue in general), virgatus, made of twigs (but often used to mean striped or streaked), and caput, head, referring to three bright-blue stripes on head
Trimma cheni Winterbottom 2011 in honor of I.-Shiung Chen, National Taiwan Ocean University, for his numerous publications on Indo-Pacific reef fishes in general, and gobies in particular
Trimma chledophilum Allen 2015 chledos, mud; phileo, loving, referring to its predilection for mud-bottom habitats, which is unusual for Trimma, which are more commonly found on coral reefs
Trimma citrum Winterbottom & Pyle 2022 Latin for the color of the fruit of the lemon tree Citrus limon, referring to this goby’s lemon-yellow body
Trimma corallinum (Smith 1959) etymology not explained, perhaps referring to its occurrence on and/or similar color as coralline (red) algae
Trimma corerefum Winterbottom 2016 arbitrary combination of letters (pronounced “core-ref-um”) reflecting the Coral Reef Research Foundation in Palau; “This organization, established and operated by Pat and Lori Colin, has not only spearheaded marine research in Palau through the efforts of its founders, but has also provided laboratory and research facilities while acting as a home away from home for innumerable scientists working on marine organisms of the Palauan Islands for almost a quarter of a century.”
Trimma dalerocheila Winterbottom 1984 daleros, hot or fiery; cheilos, lip, referring to fiery red snout and lips; name also alludes to Ms. Holly Arnold, who helped collect type, and who, in the “male dominated” society of the Chagos Arhipelago (type locality), was called a “scarcely appropriate nickname” (“Holly Hotlips,” Richard Winterbottom, pers. comm.)
Trimma emeryi Winterbottom 1985 in honor of Alan Roy Emery (b. 1939), Curator, Ichthyology and Herpetology, Royal Ontario Museum, “friend colleague, and diving buddy, in memory of our expeditions to the Indo-Pacific”
Trimma erdmanni Winterbottom 2011 in honor of marine biologist Mark V. Erdmann (b. 1968), for his “deep interest in Trimma (and other fishes, of course), his enthusiastic collection and documentation of specimens of this genus for the present author’s research program, his friendship, and for the superb job he does for Conservation International’s Indonesian Marine Program”
Trimma erwani Viviani, Williams & Planes 2016 in honor of evolutionary biologist and diver Erwan Delrieu-Trottin, who helped collect type in the Marquesas (as well as on other French Polynesia expeditions), and who worked late into the night with Williams taking tissue samples and processing specimens
Trimma fangi Winterbottom & Chen 2004 in honor of Lee-Shing Fang (b. 1951), head of the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium (Ping Tung, Taiwan), for his “enthusiastic support of the second author’s current research program”
Trimma fasciatum Suzuki, Sakaue & Senou 2012 banded, referring to four broad bright yellow bands on body
Trimma filamentosus Winterbottom 1995 filament, i.e., a “fine untwisted thread,” referring to elongate second spine of first dorsal fin
Trimma finistrinum Winterbottom 2017 porthole, referring to lines of yellow spots along sides, reminiscent of lighted portholes of an ocean liner at night
Trimma fishelsoni Goren 1985 in honor of ecologist and marine biologist Lev Fishelson (1923-2013), Tel-Aviv University, for his “tremendous” contribution to our knowledge of the fauna of the Red Sea, where this goby is endemic
Trimma flammeum (Smith 1959) bright red or burning, referring to its red coloration in life
Trimma flavatrum Hagiwara & Winterbottom 2007 flavus, yellow; atrum, black, referring to its “unusual” yellow-and-black coloration in life: dark-yellow to yellowish-brown body that gradually darkens posteriorly, a dark-brown to black caudal peduncle, and yellow to orange median fins (except caudal) with a dark or black basal stripe formed by melanophores with scattered iridocytes
Trimma flavicaudatum (Goren 1982) flavus, yellow; caudatum, tailed, referring to its yellow caudal peduncle and caudal fin
Trimma fraena Winterbottom 1984 fraenum, bridle, rein or bit, a “term used in goby systematics for the membrane that interconnects the tips of the pelvic spines across the midline to help create the sucking disk found in many gobiid fishes”; this species is the only known Trimma (at time of description) to possess this structure
Trimma fucatum Winterbottom & Southcott 2007 painted, colored or rouged, referring to red markings on and around preopercle (and suggesting its provocative common name, Harlot Pygmy Goby, a harlot being a Middle English word for prostitute or promiscuous woman, drawing a descriptive parallel between the goby’s red markings and the over-abundance of red facial make-up that some prostitutes apply to make themselves more attractive or to announce their availability to potential clients)
Trimma gigantum Winterbottom & Zur 2007 giant, referring to its extremely large size (for a pygmy goby), up to 29.9 mm SL
Trimma grammistes (Tomiyama 1936) lined, presumably referring to its longitudinal dark bands, one across eye extending along upper body, and a narrower band from upper orbital margin to soft dorsal fin
Trimma griffithsi Winterbottom 1984 in honor of Major John D. Griffiths, Royal Signals, leader of the 1978-1979 British Armed Forces Chagos Expedition, whose “leadership and hard work resulted in a highly successful expedition” during which type was collected
Trimma habrum Winterbottom 2011 delicate, dainty or graceful, referring to the “soft and delicate shades” of color of freshly collected specimens
Trimma haima Winterbottom 1984 Greek for a stream of blood, referring to three blood-red vertical bars on head
Trimma haimassum Winterbottom 2011 from the Greek haimasso, stained with blood, referring to blood-red spot above posterior end of opercle in live and fresh specimens
Trimma halonevum Winterbottom 2000 derived from halo nevus, a skin condition characterized by pale spots with a red center, referring to similar spots on its body
Trimma hamartium Winterbottom 2018 Greek for a mistake or error in judgment, referring to Winterbottom’s error in not recognizing the differences between this species and T. preclarum when describing the latter
Trimma hayashii Hagiwara & Winterbottom 2007 in honor of Masayoshi Hayashi, Curator, Yokosuka City Museum, who referred to it as an undescribed species in 1997 and provided a photograph of holotype for the description
Trimma helenae Winterbottom, Erdmann & Cahyani 2014 in honor of Helen Newman (d. 2014), one of the founders of Sea Sanctuaries Trust, and leader of the survey that led to the discovery of this goby, for her tireless conservation efforts over the past decade on behalf of Raja Ampat and its indigenous communities
Trimma hoesei Winterbottom 1984 in honor of ichthyologist Douglass F. Hoese (b. 1942), Australian Museum (Sydney), who generously shared his extensive knowledge of gobioid fishes with Winterbottom during field trips, museum visits, and by correspondence, and whose input has frequently saved Winterbottom from making “glaring errors”
Trimma hollemani Winterbottom 2016 in honor of Wouter Holleman, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, “friend, diving partner, collector extraordinaire, and processor of fishes both small and large on my expeditions for too many decades to detail. He is also a world expert on the systematics of tripterygiid and clinid fishes.”
Trimma hotsarihiense Winterbottom 2009 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Hotsarihie, local Tobian name for Helen Reef, only know area of occurrence, in appreciation of the support of the Helen Reef Resource Management Project and the friendliness and helpfulness of the people of Tobi and of Palau in general; Hotsarihie means “reef of the giant clams” and is pronounced “jo-cha-reehee”
Trimma imaii Suzuki & Senou 2009 in honor of Keisuke Imai, volunteer, Fish Division, Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History (Kanagawa, Japan), who collected type
Trimma insularum Winterbottom & Hoese 2015 of an island, referring to its distribution, which is apparently confined to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Trimma irinae Winterbottom 2014 in honor of Winterbottom’s wife, Irina, as a small token of his appreciation and gratitude for her patience and forbearance of what she once referred to as his “magnificent obsession” with coral reef fishes
Trimma kalum Winterbottom 2020 kalos, Greek for beautiful, referring to its “delicate” yellow coloration
Trimma kardium Winterbottom, Erdmann & Cahyani 2015 heart, referring to two ovoid red spots that are joined anteriorly on ventral surface of head, which have an “admittedly tenuous stereotypical resemblance” to a heart when viewed from below
Trimma kitrinum Winterbottom & Hoese 2015 citron-yellow or of citron, referring to its distinctive yellow caudal fin
Trimma kudoi Suzuki & Senou 2008 in honor of Takahiro Kudo, Kanagawa Prefectural Fisheries Technology, who helped collect and supplied type
Trimma lantana Winterbottom & Villa 2003 named for the ubiquitous tropical plant Lantana, the inflorescences of which are a varying assortment of yellow, orange, purple, and reddish-pink flowers, alluding to the colorful nature of this goby and the rounded blotches on its head
Trimma longispinum Winterbottom 2023 longus, long or extended; spinum, spined, artificially derived adjective from the noun spina, referring to elongated second spine of first dorsal fin
Trimma lutea Viviani, Williams & Planes 2016 yellow, referring to yellow bars on body
Trimma macrophthalmus (Tomiyama 1936) macro-, large; ophthalmus, eye, presumably referring to size of eye, a little shorter than half length of head [treated as an adjective, macropthalmum and macropthalma, by some workers but Tomiyama apparently intended it as a noun]
Trimma maiandros Hoese, Winterbottom & Reader 2011 named for the Greek god of the winding Meander River in Phrygia (now the Büyük Menderes River in Turkey), and origin of the Anglo-Saxon word meander (a winding or crooked course), referring to zigzag pattern of gray-to-blue lines on body
Trimma marinae Winterbottom 2005 named after Marina, one of many names attributed to Aphrodite (Goddess of the Sea), whose legendary beauty is reminiscent of this “gorgeous little species”; it is also, coincidentally, the name of Winterbottom’s daughter, “whose cheerful assistance in collecting and documenting coral reef fishes for my research program is much appreciated”
Trimma matsunoi Suzuki, Sakaue & Senou 2012 in honor of Kazushi Matsuno, AQUAS Kashiwajima Diving Service (Kochi, Japan), who discovered this goby
Trimma meityae Winterbottom & Erdmann 2018 in honor of Meity Mongdong, “one of Indonesia’s foremost marine conservationists, who has dedicated the past several decades of her career towards expanding and improving the management of marine protected areas in West Papua, including the Cendrawasih Bay National Park,” where this goby is found
Trimma mendelssohni (Goren 1978) in honor of Heinrich Mendelssohn (1910-2002), Tel Aviv University, for his “invaluable” contributions to zoological research and nature conservation in Israel
Trimma meranyx Winterbottom, Erdmann & Cahyani 2014 mera, day; nyx, night, referring to unique coloration of a black peduncle with twin “suns” (large white spots) dorsally and ventrally
Trimma meristum Winterbottom & Hoese 2015 meristos, Greek for divided, referring to two dichotomous branches in the fifth pelvic-fin ray resulting in four terminal tips, a diagnostic character for this species
Trimma milta Winterbottom 2002 from the Greek miltos, red earth, referring to predominant ground and topsoil color of type locality (Moorea, Society Islands)
Trimma multiclitellum Allen 2015 multi-, many; clitella, saddle, referring to seven alternating dark-brown and chalk-white bars on upper half of body
Trimma nasa Winterbottom 2005 derived from the Anglo-Saxon nasal, a bar descending from front of many medieval helmets to protect the nose of the wearer, referring to stripe on snout
Trimma nauagium Allen 2015 Greek for shipwreck, known only from the outer hull of the Muscoota, a World War II shipwreck at Waga Waga in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea
Trimma naudei Smith 1957 in honor of physicist Stefan Meiring Naudé (1905-1985), President of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
Trimma necopinum (Whitley 1959) unexpected, allusion not explained nor evident
Trimma nomurai Suzuki & Senou 2007 in honor of Tomoyuki Nomura, volunteer, Fish Division, Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History (Kanagawa, Japan), who collected and provided type
Trimma nubarum Winterbottom, Bogorodsky & Alpermann 2023 –um, adjectival suffix (neuter): combination of the first three letters of the Nubian and the first two letters of the Arabian continental plates (“nubar”) whose divergence forms the great rift of which the Red Sea (where this goby occurs) is a part
Trimma okinawae (Aoyagi 1949) of the Okinawa Islands of Japan, type locality
Trimma omanense Winterbottom 2000 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Gulf of Oman, only known area of occurrence
Trimma pajama Winterbottom, Erdmann & Cahyani 2014 loose clothing worn when retiring for the night, referring to contrasting stripes so common in at least the British version of that garment
Trimma panemorfum Winterbottom & Pyle 2022 Greek for beautiful, exquisite, or sublime, referring to its attractive color pattern
Trimma papayum Winterbottom 2011 latinization of papaya, a tropical tree whose fruit has orange flesh and small black seeds, referring to overall coloration and small black spot or spots on first dorsal fin
Trimma pentherum Winterbottom & Hoese 2015 of mourning, a “perhaps far-fetched allusion to the black bar on the pectoral-fin base which, with considerable imagination, could be viewed as analogous to the black arm band worn in certain cultures to signify the death of a close friend or relative”
Trimma putrai Winterbottom, Edrmann & Mambrasar 2019 in honor of Ketut Sarjana Putra, head of Conservation International Indonesia and “one of Indonesia’s foremost marine conservationists”; his “work over the past three decades has ranged from sea-turtle conservation to pioneering large-scale marine-protected-area network development, and has focused on both the Lesser Sunda Islands and West Papua—precisely the range of this new species”
Trimma preclarum Winterbottom 2006 splendid or very beautiful, referring to its “wonderful” coloration when alive, especially its multi-hued iris
Trimma quadrimaculatum Hoese, Bogorodsky & Mal 2015 quadrus, four fold; maculatus, spotted, referring to four prominent subcutaneous spots above anal fin and ventral caudal peduncle
Trimma randalli Winterbottom & Zur 2007 in honor of John E. Randall (1924-2020), Bishop Museum (Honolulu), “guru of the alpha-taxonomy of Indo-Pacific marine fishes,” who first brought specimens of this species to the authors’ attention, and who has made a special effort to collect and photograph Trimma for the senior author’s research program
Trimma readerae Winterbottom & Hoese 2015 in honor of Sally Reader, Australian Museum (Sydney), for the many years she has spent painstakingly gathering, analyzing and documenting data on Trimma for Hoese’s research program
Trimma rubromaculatum Allen & Munday 1995 rubro-, red; maculatus, spotted, referring to deep-red spots on head, nape and sides of living specimens
Trimma sanguinellum Winterbottom & Southcott 2007 diminutive of sanguis, i.e., “little blood,” and root of the Spanish sanguinello, a variety of blood orange, whose red-suffused flesh resembles this goby’s unusual body color
Trimma sheppardi Winterbottom 1984 in honor of ecologist Charles R. C. Sheppard (b. 1949), scientific leader on the Chagos Expedition during which type was collected, for his many efforts to ensure the participating scientists had everything they needed [note: Winterbottom incorrectly gave Sheppard’s middle initial as “S.”]
Trimma sostra Winterbottom 2004 derivation of Sostratus, the Cnidian designer and builder of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (ca. 350 BC, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world), referring to its red and white bars, which are reminiscent of the colors of many 20th-century lighthouses
Trimma squamicana Winterbottom 2004 squama, scale, referring to its scaled name; cana, latinization of first three letters of both the Anglo-Saxon words candy and cane, referring to its candy cane-like red bands on a white body
Trimma stobbsi Winterbottom 2001 in honor of Robin E. Stobbs, “friend, guru, and colleague, whose expertise in so many things was instrumental in launching [Winterbottom’s] career (especially the fieldwork aspects) all those years ago at the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology in Grahamstown, South Africa”
Trimma striatum (Herre 1945) striped, referring to six longitudinal pale stripes on head
Trimma tauroculum Winterbottom & Zur 2007 taurus, bull; oculus, eye, referring to bullseye-like marking above pectoral fin
Trimma taylori Lobel 1979 in honor of Leighton R. Taylor, Jr. (b. 1940), on the occasion of his appointment as director of the Waikiki Aquarium, continuing a tradition that each of the Aquarium’s directors have a uniquely Hawaiian fish as a namesake
Trimma tevegae Cohen & Davis 1969 named for Stanford University research vessel Te Vega, a converted luxury yacht, from which type was collected
Trimma trioculatum Winterbottom, Erdmann & Cahyani 2015 tri-, three; oculatus, eyed, referring to “extra apparent eye” formed by dark ocellated spot on first dorsal fin
Trimma ukkriti Winterbottom 2021 in honor of Ukkrit Satapoomin, Director, Marine Resources Conservation Division, Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Government of Thailand, who “not only acted as liaison, organizer and participant in my field work at the Phuket Marine Biological Station in 1993, but who continued to collect and send me valuable specimens of reef gobies after we left, as well as making a special and successful effort to obtain specimens of this species for DNA barcode analysis”
Trimma unisquame (Gosline 1959) uni-, one; squamus, scale, referring to single scale on cheek
Trimma volcana Winterbottom 2003 referring to amber-red spots on an earthy brown background that resemble numerous small, volcanic vents on a lava field; also suggestive of the hot-spot origins of the Comores Islands, where it occurs
Trimma wangunui Winterbottom & Edrmann 2019 in honor of Noel Wangunu, “one of Papua New Guinea’s foremost reef scientists and marine conservationists,” who also assisted junior author in collections and local permits
Trimma winchi Winterbottom 1984 in honor of Peter Winch, owner and captain of the ketch Paille-en-Queue II, who spent nine months ferrying equipment, supplies, and expedition members around the Chagos Archipelago, and without whom the expedition during which type was collected would not have been possible
Trimma winterbottomi Randall & Downing 1994 in honor of Richard Winterbottom (b. 1944), Royal Ontario Museum, for his “excellent” research on gobies, Trimma in particular
Trimma woutsi Winterbottom 2002 in honor of Wouter (Wouts) Holleman, “friend, colleague, and indispensable field collaborator on many field trips” (pronounced “votes-i”)
Trimma xanthochrum Winterbottom 2011 xanthos, yellow or golden; chros, color of the skin, referring to yellow coloration of body and caudal fin
Trimma xanthum Winterbottom & Hoese 2015 yellow, yellowish-red, orange or golden, referring to presence of these colors in freshly collected specimens
Trimma yanagitai Suzuki & Senou 2007 in honor of Mitsuhiko Yanagita, NASO Dive (Ito, Shizuoka, Japan), who helped collect and provided type
Trimma yanoi Suzuki & Senou 2008 in honor of Korechika Yano, Dive Service YANO (Iriomote Island, Japan), who collected type and photographed it under water
Trimma yoshinoi Suzuki, Yano & Senou 2015 in honor of Tetsuo Yoshino, University of the Ryukyus (Japan), supervisor of the third author when he studied at Yoshino’s laboratory, for his “extensive” taxonomic research on the fishes of Japan
Trimma zurae Winterbottom, Erdmann & Cahyani 2014 in honor of Margaret Zur, who has, for several decades, curated both the Royal Ontario Museum and borrowed material of Trimma for Winterbottom’s research program, as well as taking and compiling reams of data on the specimens, plotting distributions, summarizing results, and a myriad other tasks; her work has been indispensable in keeping Winterbottom’s Trimma project viable
Trimmatom Winterbottom & Emery 1981 Trimma, a closely related genus; atom, a very small particle, referring to small size of T. nanus and T. offucius
Trimmatom eviotops (Schultz 1943) ops, appearance, referring to its similarity to Eviota
Trimmatom macropodus Winterbottom 1989 macro-, long; podos, foot, referring to extremely long fourth pelvic-fin ray
Trimmatom nanus Winterbottom & Emery 1981 dwarf, referring to small size at maturity, 8-10 mm SL
Trimmatom offucius Winterbottom & Emery 1981 a paint or wash, usually red in color, referring to orange-red bar beneath eye
Trimmatom pharus Winterbottom 2001 Latin for lighthouse or beacon, both of which are usually painted with alternating red and white bands, referring to the color of living and fresh specimens
Trimmatom sagma Winterbottom 1989 Greek for saddle, referring to pattern of small dark saddles across dorsum
Trimmatom zapotes Winterbottom 1989 Greek for a hard drinker, referring to its red anterior nasal tube (e.g., drinker’s nose, or rhinophyma, thought to be related to excess alcohol consumption)
Tryssogobius Larson & Hoese 2001 tryssos, dainty or delicate, presumably referring to small size of T. colini (32.5 mm SL) and T. longipes (18.0 mm SL)
Tryssogobius colini Larson & Hoese 2001 in honor of coral-reef biologist Patrick L. Colin (b. 1946), who collected type and other specimens
Tryssogobius fisunovi Prokofiev 2017 in honor of Georgy Kasyanovich (note spelling, see Myctophum fissunovi in Myctophiformes), Institute of Oceanology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, who collected type serving as a senior technician-oceanologist aboard the research vessel Vitiaz in 1973
Tryssogobius flavolineatus Randall 2006 flavus, yellow; lineatus, lined, referring to yellow line passing from behind eye to below first dorsal fin
Tryssogobius longipes Larson & Hoese 2001 longus, long; pes, foot, referring to elongate pelvic fins, especially developed in males
Tryssogobius nigrolineatus Randall 2006 nigro, black; lineatus, lined, referring to longitudinal black line on postorbital head and side of body
Tryssogobius porosus Larson & Chen 2007 pored, referring to its three preopercular pores and two pores over opercle
Tryssogobius quinquespinus Randall 2006 quinque, five; spinus, spine, referring to five spines in first dorsal fin, a rare count for gobiid fishes (the great majority have four)
Tryssogobius sarah Allen & Erdmann 2012 in honor of Sarah Crow, who accompanied Erdmann on his surveys of cryptic fish biodiversity; “It is a pleasure to name this species after this precocious and inquisitive young ichthyologist, with the hope that this will further inspire her future investigations of the marine realm.” [a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]
Valenciennea Bleeker 1856 –ea, adjectival suffix: patronym not identified but clearly in honor of Achille Valenciennes (1794-1865), co-author of the 22-volume Histoire Naturelle des Poissons (1828-1850), a basic reference for Bleeker and other ichthyologists of the time [note: Bleeker often spelled Valenciennes without the “s”; see Hypoatherina valenciennei (Atheriniformes: Atherinidae]
Valenciennea alleni Hoese & Larson 1994 in honor of Gerald R. Allen (b. 1942), Western Australia Museum (Perth), for his contributions to Australian ichthyology
Valenciennea bella Hoese & Larson 1994 pretty, presumably referring to its pinkish body coloration and two oblique stripes under eye
Valenciennea decora Hoese & Larson 1994 adorned or elegant, presumably referring to coloration in life, including yellow stripe running length of body, one or 4-5 yellow vertical bars, and a blue-edged yellow stripe at distal edge of second dorsal fin
Valenciennea helsdingenii (Bleeker 1858) in honor of W. F. C. van Helsdingen, Dutch civil servant, who provided a number of well-preserved fishes from the Gorong Archipelago (Indonesia), including type of this one
Valenciennea immaculata (Ni 1981) unspotted, referring to lack of vertical bands compared to the similar V. muralis
Valenciennea limicola Hoese & Larson 1994 limus, mud; –cola, inhabitant of, collected from a turbid silty mud bottom off a river mouth
Valenciennea longipinnis (Lay & Bennett 1839) longus, long; pinnis, fin, referring to extended rays on first dorsal fin and/or “long and pointed” caudal fin
Valenciennea muralis (Valenciennes 1837) pertaining to a wall, its color markings resembling the lines of a stone wall
Valenciennea parva Hoese & Larson 1994 dwarf, referring to its small size, maximum 54 mm SL
Valenciennea persica Hoese & Larson 1994 Persian, referring to the Persian Gulf, where it is endemic
Valenciennea papuensis Allen, Erdmann & Mambrasar 2024 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: West Papua Province, Indonesia, where all type material was collected
Valenciennea puellaris (Tomiyama 1956) damsel-like, referring to its “supposed gay coloration in life”
Valenciennea randalli Hoese & Larson 1994 in honor of ichthyologist John E. Randall (1924-2020), Bishop Museum (Honolulu), who provided the “initial impetus” for the authors’ revision of the genus and supplied numerous specimens and photographs
Valenciennea sexguttata (Valenciennes 1837) sex, six; guttata, spotted, presumably referring to silver spots, consisting of two longitudinal rows of three spots each, on cheek and operculum
Valenciennea strigata (Broussonet 1782) striped, referring to bluish, black-edged streak or stripe from angle of mouth to opercle
Valenciennea wardii (Playfair 1867) in honor of British diplomat Swinburne Ward (1830-1897), Her Majesty’s Civil Commissioner for the Seychelles (even though this goby was described from Zanzibar, Tanzania)
Valenciennea yanoi Suzuki, Senou & Randall 2016 in honor of Korechika Yano, Dive Service YANO (Iriomote Island, Japan), who discovered this species and photographed it under water
Vanderhorstia Smith 1949 –ia, belonging to: Cornelius Jan van der Horst (1889-1951), Head of the Zoology Department, Witwatserand University (Johannesburg, South Africa), “well known as a marine biologist”
Vanderhorstia ambanoro (Fourmanoir 1957) named for Ambanoro Bay, Nossi-Bé, Mozambique Channel, Madagascar, type locality
Vanderhorstia atriclypea (Garman 1903) etymology not explained, presumably atri-, black, referring to black ventral fins and/or black spot on bases of caudal-fin rays; clypeus, shield, perhaps referring to large ctenoid scales with minute teeth
Vanderhorstia attenuata Randall 2007 d rawn out or tapering, referring to prolonged tapering filament formed by middle five caudal-fin rays
Vanderhorstia auronotata Randall 2007 aurum, gold; notata, marked, referring to its many bright orange-yellow markings
Vanderhorstia auropunctata (Tomiyama 1955) aureus, golden; punctatus, spotted, referring to golden-yellow spots scattered on head and body
Vanderhorstia bella Greenfield & Longenecker 2005 beautiful, referring to its “striking” coloration, lavender on head and body and many bright yellow spots
Vanderhorstia belloides Randall 2007 –oides, having the form of: referring to its resemblance to V. bella
Vanderhorstia cyanolineata Suzuki & Chen 2014 cyaneus, blue; lineatus, lined, referring to conspicuous longitudinal purplish-blue stripe from middle body crossing through entire middle region of caudal fin
Vanderhorstia dawnarnallae Allen, Erdmann & Mongdong 2019 in honor of businesswoman and philanthropist Dawn Arnall, who funded expedition that led to the discovery of this goby and “provided critical support and advice to the Bird’s Head Seascape marine conservation initiative that now protects the habitat of this new species”
Vanderhorstia delagoae (Barnard 1937) of Delagoa Bay, Mozambique, type locality
Vanderhorstia dorsomacula Randall 2007 dorso-, dorsal; macula, spot, referring to black spot in middle of first dorsal fin between fourth and fifth spines
Vanderhorstia flavilineata Allen & Munday 1995 flavus, yellow; lineata, lined, referring to pair of yellow-orange stripes on sides
Vanderhorstia fulvopelvis Suzuki & Chen 2014 fulvus, brownish yellow (but often used to mean yellow in general); pelvis, pelvic, referring to conspicuous “shiny yellow” mark on pelvic fin in male
Vanderhorstia hiramatsui Iwata, Shibukawa & Ohnishi 2007 in honor of Wataru Hiramatsu (Laboratory of Marine Biology, Kochi University), who collected type
Vanderhorstia kizakura Iwata, Shibukawa & Ohnishi 2007 Japanese vernacular for a variety of cherry tree with turmeric-colored blossoms, referring to bright-yellow dots and lines scattered on head and body
Vanderhorstia lepidobucca Allen, Peristiwady & Erdmann 2014 lepida, scaly; bucca, cheek, only member of genus with scales on preoperculum
Vanderhorstia longimanus (Weber 1909) longus, long; manus, hand, referring to long pectoral fins, nearly reaching middle of second dorsal fin
Vanderhorstia macropteryx (Franz 1910) macro-, long; pteryx, fin, referring to its long pectoral fins, 3⅓ in TL
Vanderhorstia mertensi Klausewitz 1974 in honor of herpetologist Robert Mertens (1894-1975), former director, Naturmuseum Senckenberg (Frankfurt), under whom Klausewitz gained a complete biological and ecological view of modern systematics and taxonomy
Vanderhorstia nannai Winterbottom, Iwata & Kozawa 2005 of the Sumerian moon god Sin, who had several different names corresponding to phases of the moon; the name “Nanna” represented the full moon, referring to moon-like lateral spots on this goby
Vanderhorstia nobilis Allen & Randall 2006 majestic, referring its previously published (2003) common name, Majestic Shrimpgoby
Vanderhorstia opercularis Randall 2007 referring to prominent black spot on opercle
Vanderhorstia ornatissima Smith 1959 superlative of ornatus, handsome, splendid or decorated, presumably referring to its “[b]rilliant” coloration in life
Vanderhorstia pattiseery Allen, Erdmann & Ichida 2024 in honor of the late Patti Seery (d. 2020), designer and owner of the “magnificent” liveaboard boat R.V. Silolona, who provided the authors with numerous opportunities to explore the islands and reefs of the East Indian region; they are “grateful for her wonderful friendship and immense generosity” [a noun in apposition without the matronymic “ae”]
Vanderhorstia papilio Shibukawa & Suzuki 2004 butterfly, referring to its elongate, filamentous fifth and ninth branched caudal-fin rays, which look like the “tails” of the Swallowtail Butterfly
Vanderhorstia phaeostictus (Randall, Shao & Chen 2007) phaeos, brown or dusky; stictus, small spots, referring to profusion of small dark spots on body
Vanderhorstia puncticeps (Deng & Xiong 1980) punctus, speckled; ceps, head, referring to irregular yellow blotches and stripes on head
Vanderhorstia rapa Iwata, Shibukawa & Ohnishi 2007 rapum, turnip or rapeseed, referring to minute golden-yellow spots on head, body and fins, similar to rapeseed blossoms
Vanderhorstia steelei Randall & Munday 2008 in honor of ichthyologist Mark H. Steele (b. 1967), California State University (Northridge, California), who photographed the goby in its habitat and alerted the authors of its existence
Vanderhorstia stegauchenia Prokofiev 2017 stegos, roof; auchenos, nape, referring to completely scaled predorsal region
Vanderhorstia vandersteene Allen, Erdmann & Brooks 2020 a noun in apposition for the combined surnames of Rob van der Loos (also spelled Vanderloos) and Roger C. Steene (b. 1942), “two highly esteemed underwater photographers who have contributed greatly to our knowledge of the reef fishes of Milne Bay and who have been loyal diving companions over the course of three decades of exploration of the region”
Vanderhorstia wayag Allen & Erdmann 2012 named for Wayag Island, Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua, Indonesia, type locality (and location of a Conservation International field station)
Vanneaugobius Brownell 1978 Vanneau, ship from which V. dollfusi was collected; gobius, goby
Vanneaugobius canariensis Van Tassell, Miller & Brito 1988 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, type locality (also occurs off Madeira and Cape Verde Islands)
Vanneaugobius dollfusi Brownell 1978 in honor of Robert-Philippe Dollfus (1887-1976), ichthyologist and parasitologist, who co-organized the Vanneau expeditions (1923-1926) along Morocco’s Atlantic coastline, during which type was collected; in addition, his 1955 checklist of Moroccan Atlantic fishes has been “very helpful” to subsequent workers in the field
Vanneaugobius pruvoti (Fage 1907) in honor of Fage’s teacher, physician-zoologist Georges Pruvot (1852-1924), who helped collect this goby and urged Fage to study it
Varicus Robins & Böhlke 1961 with feet spread out, referring to its nearly separate (compared to fused) ventral fins
Varicus adamsi Gilmore, Van Tassell & Tornabene 2016 in honor of the late “famed” research submersible (Johnson Sea Link) pilot Michael Adams (1934-1993), who “painstakingly” captured both Bahaman specimens during a 30-45 minute chase using a 26-ton submarine in “simultaneous multiple thrust, multidirectional mode”; he was one of the five original research submersible pilots in the United States
Varicus benthonis (Ginsburg 1953) –is, adjectival suffix: benthos, the deep, presumably referring to its deepwater habitat (collected at 153.6 m)
Varicus bucca Robins & Böhlke 1961 mouth, but here meaning “puffed cheek,” referring to moderately protractile mouth
Varicus cephalocellatus Gilmore, Van Tassell & Baldwin 2016 cephalus; head; ocelli, eyespot, referring to series of ocelli on head extending from mouth diagonally to nape
Varicus decorum Van Tassell, Baldwin & Tornabene 2016 decorated, adorned, beautiful or elegant, referring to beautiful round yellow markings on dorsal surface of body
Varicus lacerta Tornabene, Robertson & Baldwin 2016 lizard, referring to its “reptilian or saurian appearance” as indicated by its bright yellow-and-orange coloration, green eyes, disproportionately large head possessing raised ridges of papilla, and multiple rows of recurved canine teeth in each jaw (its common name, Godzilla Goby, refers to the radioactive reptilian monster from the sea that appeared in Japanese science-fiction films as Gojira, renamed Godzilla in subsequent English-language films)
Varicus marilynae Gilmore 1979 in honor of Gilmore’s wife Marilyn, who aided her husband “considerably” in his ichthyological studies
Varicus nigritus Gilmore, Van Tassell & Baldwin 2016 black, referring to diagnostic dark-black wide bars on trunk
Varicus prometheus Fuentes, Baldwin, Robertson, Lardizábal & Tornabene 2023 named for the Greek god Prometheus, who, as punishment from the god Zeus, had his liver eaten out by an eagle, only to have the liver grow back overnight so it might be eaten again the next day, referring to the fact that the abdomen of the holotype was partially eaten by a hermit crab
Varicus roatanensis Fuentes, Baldwin, Robertson, Lardizábal & Tornabene 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Roatan, Honduras, type locality
Varicus veliguttatus Van Tassell, Baldwin & Gilmore 2016 velum, sail; guttatus, spotted or speckled, referring to scattered black markings on first dorsal fin
Varicus vespa (Hastings & Bortone 1981) wasp, referring to wasp-like olive vertical bars on body
Vomerogobius Gilbert 1971 vomer, referring to teeth that may be present on vomer; gobius, goby
Vomerogobius flavus Gilbert 1971 yellow, referring to bright yellow color in life
Wheelerigobius Miller 1981 in honor of Alwyne C. Wheeler (1929-2005), Curator of Fishes at the British Museum, whose help was “invaluable” in Miller’s work on gobies for Checklist of the Fishes of the Eastern Tropical Atlantic; gobius, goby
Wheelerigobius maltzani (Steindachner 1881) in honor of German malacologist and Steindachner’s “dear” (translation) friend, Hermann von Maltzan (1843-1891), who provided type
Wheelerigobius wirtzi Miller 1988 in honor of blenny taxonomist Peter Wirtz (b. 1948), Universidade da Madeira (Portugal), who collected type, and, “as on previous occasions, kindly forwarded these non-blenniids to the author”
Yoga Whitley 1954 Sanskrit word for yoke, i.e., to bind or bridge, referring to how this genus is “apparently intermediate in characters” between Ctenogobius (Oxudercidae) and Cryptocentrus; Whitley is thereby “linking them together” by proposing this name
Yoga pyrops (Whitley 1954) pyr-, pyriform; ops, eye, referring to its pear-shaped eyes
Yongeichthys Whitley 1932 named for zoologist Charles Maurice Yonge (1899-1986), leader of the Great Barrier Reef Expedition (1928-1929); ichthys, fish
Yongeichthys nebulosus (Forsskål 1775) cloudy, referring to its rough, dark-cloudy (“fusco-nebulosis”) scales
Yongeichthys thomasi (Boulenger 1916) in honor of anthropologist Northcote W. Thomas (1868-1936), who collected type
Yongeichthys tuticorinensis (Fowler 1925) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Tuticorin, Madras, India, type locality
Zagadkogobius Prokofiev 2017 zagadka, Russian word for mystery (per English version of paper, but a better translation would be “puzzle, riddle or enigma”), referring to its unusual combination of diagnostic characters; gobius, goby
Zagadkogobius ourlazon Prokofiev 2017 Greek for “mourner at a funeral,” referring to large dark spot under eye
Zebrus de Buen 1930 tautonymous with Gobius zebrus
Zebrus pallaoroi Kovačić, Šanda, Čekovská, Soukupová & Vukić 2021 in honor of Armin Pallaoro, a “great ichthyologist from the Institute of Oceanography and Fishery Split, Croatia, who sadly passed away in January 2020. Armin unselfishly shared his knowledge and his fieldwork and laboratory skills on fishes with generations of younger Croatian colleagues at their beginnings,” including the senior author
Zebrus zebrus (Risso 1827) zebra, referring to zebra-like color pattern of whitish transverse bands encircling a dark body