A review of the Southern African gobiid fish genus Caffrogobius Smitt, 1900

J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology Special Publication No.57, September 1996 A review of the Southern African gobiid fish genus Caffrogobius Smitt, 1900 Menachem Goren Code Number: FS96001 Size of Files: Text: 63.9K Graphics: Line drawings (gif) - 68K Photographs (jpg) - 127.6K ABSTRACT The genus Caffrogobius Smitt, 1900 is composed of seven species. The members of the genus are moderate size gobies, reaching a length of 10-14 cm (SL). The species of the genus are characterized by a combination of the following characters: Cheek papillae pattern transverse; dorsal segmented rays: 9-14; anal segmented rays: 8-12; caudal segmented rays: 16-18; pectoral rays: 16-23. Scales along the body: 30-64; transverse rows of scales: 9-23; vertebrae: 27 (11+16 or 10+17); formula of fin pterygiophores: 3-22110. Six species of Caffrogobius are found around the southern part of the African continent (Mozambique to Namibia): agulhensis (Barnard, 1827), caffer (Gunther, 1874), gilchristi (Boulenger, 1900), natalensis (Gunther, 1874), nudiceps (Valenciennes, 1837), and saldanha (Barnard, 1827). Some of them are very similar to each other. In most species extreme variability in the color patterns and in meristic counts was found. C. gilchristi is considered here as a valid species and a senior synonym of C. multifasciatus (Smith, 1959). A seventh species dubius (Smith, 1959) from the Seychelles is listed and briefly described. Key words: Caffrogobius; Gobiidae; South Africa Copyright 1996 J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyolog