I came across some unknown gobies in a store today and the staff
could not ID them nor could they find their wholesaler list in order to
look up the scientific name. If I had to guess I'd say they looked most
like a Glossogobius sp. but that really is a shot in the dark.
Here's what I can remember about them: they were going under the
name of Batanga gobies. The closest thing I could find to Batanga was
a place called Batang which is deep inside China near the border with
what used to be Burma. I kinda doubt this is where they're coming
from!:-) As for physical markings, they were overall a brownish grey.
The first dorsal had one horizontal stripe, whitish in colour. The second
dorsal had two such stripes. The caudal fin was speckled much like
Glossogobius sp#2 as seen in Allen's book "Freshwater Fishes of New
Guinea". In fact except for the lack of colours, I'd say they looked very
much like this fish. The vertical barring on the body was similar but
made up of distinct pairs of vertical bars. The difference is that while
Glossogobius sp #2 only attains 30mm SL, these fish were at 40mm SL
or better.
Any one have any ideas as to what this fish is? If so, have you seen a
photo and where?
Thanks
Chris
drews at webgate.net