Gobiodon brochus Harold & Winterbottom, 1999
Rasp coralgoby
Gobiodon brochus
photo by Winterbottom, R.

Family:  Gobiidae (Gobies), subfamily: Gobiinae
Max. size:  2.55 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  reef-associated; marine; depth range - 15 m
Distribution:  Western Central Pacific: Fiji, Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia and Tonga.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 7-7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-12; Anal spines: 1-1; Anal soft rays: 9-10; Vertebrae: 26-26. Two oblique pigment bars on the head posterodorsal to the eye. Uniquely derived lower jaw, modified anteromedially into a dentigerous, fleshy projection and a row of elongate, transversely oriented papillae in the ventral portion of the cheek. Interopercular-isthmus groove nearly straight. Caudal fin rounded.
Biology:  Found in association with Acropora loripes and Acropora elseyi; commonly in pairs (Ref. 36585); a coral-commensal species (Ref. 72446). Feeds on copepods, forams, and unidentifiable flocculent material (may represent in part the remains of coral tissue) (Ref. 36585).
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT); Date assessed: 28 June 2018 (A2c) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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