Family Gobiidae Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Order Perciformes | |
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aogihaze trimma caudomaculatum sumida aquarium
Trimma caudomaculatum is a species of gobies from the Western Pacific. Like other members of the genus, they are usually found in large schools in the sloping or vertical drop-offs at coral reef edges.
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aogihaze cave pygmy goby trimma caudomaculatum
Taxonomy
Trimma caudomaculatum belongs to the Trimma tevegae species group of the dwarfgoby genus Trimma. It is included in the true goby subfamily Gobiinae in the goby family Gobiidae. It was first described as Trimma caudomaculata (in error) by the Japanese ichthyologists Tetsuo Yoshino and Chūichi Araga from specimens recovered from southern Japan.
In 2005, the ichthyologist Richard Winterbottom examined specimens of Trimma caudomaculatum (specific name corrected for gender agreement) and compared them with specimens of Trimma tevegae. Based on morphology, he concluded that they belonged to the same species, and thus synonymized Trimma caudomaculatum into Trimma tevegae. However, he reversed this opinion after a 2011 phylogenetic study on the genus Trimma. Trimma caudomaculatum is now again considered to be a separate valid species, though still closely related to Trimma tevegae. The study also revealed that Trimma tevegae may be a cryptic species complex.
Distribution
Trimma caudomaculatum can be found in the Western Pacific coral reefs. Specimens have been recovered from Japan and Palau.