Gouania willdenowi
| Gouania willdenowi | ||||||||||||
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Gouania willdenowi |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Gouania | ||||||||||||
| Nardo , 1833 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Gouania willdenowi | ||||||||||||
| ( Risso , 1810) |
Gouania willdenowi , also called stump-snouted shield belly , is the only representative of the genus Gouania from the family of the tortoiseshell . Very little is known about the blunt-snouted shield belly, although it is not uncommon in the Mediterranean - but the fish is often overlooked or "underestimated" because of its small body size (5 cm) and hidden way of life. The scientific name commemorates two botanists of the 18th century ( Gouan and Willdenow ).
description
Briggs gives in his Gobiesociden -Monographie (1955) the following characteristics for this small shield belly: Coloring variable (adaptable): gray to pale yellow (hence the name "piggy fish"), also brownish with pale red spots or dark, irregular cross bars. The dorsal and anal fin are reduced to low seams and fused with the caudal fin, so that the following fin formula results for the fin border : D 22 + A 21; P 18-21.
The suction disk, created from fused V 4, is comparatively small, but in two parts; the posterior papillae are large but few in number; apparently there is also a clear sexual dimorphism here .
The body is 6.6–7.6 times longer than it is wide and flattened on the sides, the head is broader, rounded and flattened (hence the vernacular name "leech"), the mouth is large and the snout is not excessively elongated. The teeth are conical, small and curved backwards, they lie in deep flaps in each jaw, arranged closer together in individual rows on the sides. On the third arch of the gill there are six small, pointed gill rakes. The spine consists of 38 elements (compared to 33–35 with Lepadogaster ) and is noticeable for its suppleness (the disc bellies can be tightly bent together in their hiding places). Pseudobranchs are missing. Small pre-orbital tentacles are present.
Occurrence
According to Whitehead et al. (1986) it occurs on the northern Mediterranean coast from France ( Banyuls-sur-Mer ) to Syria .
ecology
In the relevant literature there is no information on nutrition and reproduction.
Synonyms
The wrong spelling Gouania wildenowi is often found in the literature .
- Gouana Pigra Nardo, 1860
- Gouania prototype Nardo, 1833
- Lepadogaster piger Nardo, 1827
- Leptopterygius coccoi Troschel, 1860
- Rupisuga nicensis Swainson, 1839
literature
- Briggs, JC (1955): A monograph of the clingfishes (order Xenopterygii) . Stanford ichthyol. bull. 6: iv + 1-224 (114 fig., 15 maps).
- ↑ PJP Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen, E. Tortonese: Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Volume III. UNESCO. 1986, pp. 1355-1356.
Web links
- WN Eschmeyer (ed.): Catalog of Fishes electronic version (6 May 2010).
- History of discovery, synonymy
- Briggs (1955)
- Gouania willdenowi on Fishbase.org (English)
- Gouania willdenowi inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Endangered Species . Posted by: Francour, P., Goren, M. & Bilecenoglu, M. and Tunesi, L., 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2014.