Twelve new records of gobies and clingfishes (Pisces: Teleostei) significantly increase small benthic fish diversity of Maltese waters

Twelve new first records of species from two families are added to the list of known marine fishes from Malta based on laboratory study of material collected during fieldwork over a period of more than twenty years. The three new records of clingfishes (Apletodon incognitus, Gouania wildenowi, Opeatogenys gracilis) double the known diversity of Gobiesocidae for the area; the nine new records of gobies (Chromogobius zebratus, Gobius ater, Gobius fallax, Gobius gasteveni, Gobius roulei, Lebetus guilleti, Odondebuenia balearica, Speleogobius llorisi, Vanneaugobius dollfusi) increase by almost a half the known diversity of Maltese Gobiidae. The most enigmatic species reported is G. ater, for which the most recent published record is two decades old and based on specimens that had actually been collected back in the 19th century. Checklists of the Gobiesocidae and Gobiidae of Maltese waters are presented. Biodiversity and biogeographic implications of the present findings are discussed.

[1]  I. Glavičić,et al.  The first Adriatic finding of Speleogobius llorisi (Actinopterygii: Gobiiformes: Gobiidae) , 2019, Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria.

[2]  R. Svensen,et al.  The confirmed and continuous northern distribution of Thorogobius ephippiatus (Teleostei: Gobiidae) with the scientific use of recreational fishing data , 2018 .

[3]  U. Schliewen,et al.  A new species of Buenia (Perciformes: Gobiidae) from the western Mediterranean slope bottoms, the redescription of Buenia jeffreysi and the first Balearic record of Buenia affinis. , 2018, Zootaxa.

[4]  S. Engin,et al.  New records of Speleogobius trigloides Zander & Jelinek, 1976 and S. llorisi Kovačić, Ordines & Schliewen, 2016 (Osteichthyes: Gobiidae) in the Aegean Sea , 2017 .

[5]  S. Engin,et al.  First record of Lebetus guilleti (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Gobiidae) from the Sea of Marmara , 2015 .

[6]  J. Evans,et al.  Three new records of Gobiidae from Malta with morphology, colouration and identification of the smallest known juveniles of two small gobiid species , 2013 .

[7]  U. Schliewen,et al.  A first quantitative assessment of the ecology of cryptobenthic fishes in the Mediterranean Sea , 2012 .

[8]  R. Patzner,et al.  2 North-Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Gobies , 2011 .

[9]  H. Ahnelt,et al.  On the occurrence of the rare deepwater gobiid fish Gobius gasteveni Miller, 1974 in the western Mediterranean (Italy) , 2011 .

[10]  H. Ahnelt,et al.  First record of Gobius roulei (Gobiidae) in the Ligurian Sea , 2009 .

[11]  S. Engin,et al.  First Record of Chromogobius zebratus (Gobiidae) for the Mediterranean Coast of Turkey , 2008 .

[12]  U. Schliewen,et al.  Didogobius amicuscaridis spec. nov. and D. wirtzi spec. nov., two new species of symbiotic gobiid fish from São Tomé and Cape Verde islands (Perciformes, Gobiidae) , 2008 .

[13]  Kaya,et al.  THE OCCURRENCE OF APLETODON INCOGNITUS HOFRICHTER ET PATZNER, 1997 (GOBIESOCIDAE) IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA , 2007 .

[14]  Jacques Bertrand,et al.  International bottom trawl survey in the Mediterranean (Medits), Instruction manual - Version 5 , 2007 .

[15]  C. Bianchi Biodiversity issues for the forthcoming tropical Mediterranean Sea , 2007, Hydrobiologia.

[16]  E. Gonçalves,et al.  Opeatogenys gracilis(Pisces: Gobiesocidae): an overlooked species or another ‘Mediterranean endemism’ found in Atlantic waters? , 2005 .

[17]  P. Schembri,et al.  Revision of the records of shark and ray species from the Maltese Islands (Chordata : Chondrichthyes) , 2003 .

[18]  M. Kovačić The biology of Roule's goby in the Kvarner area, northern Adriatic Sea , 2001 .

[19]  H. Ahnelt TWO MEDITERRANEAN GOBIID FISHES WITH AN UNUSUAL CEPHALIC LATERAL LINE CANAL SYSTEM , 2001 .

[20]  T. Pietsch,et al.  Cyanine Blue: A Versatile and Harmless Stain for Specimen Observation , 1997 .

[21]  J. Cilia On some previously unrecorded Blennidae and Gobiidae from Maltese waters (Pisces : Osteichthyes : Perciformes) , 1990 .

[22]  N. Daan Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean: Vol. 1. P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (Editors). The Unesco Press, 1984, 510 pp., FF250, £37.50, $63.50, ISBN 92-3-002215-2 , 1987 .

[23]  E. Tortonese,et al.  Gobius ater Bellotti ( Pisces, Perciformes ): specie valida ed inclusa nella fauna italiana , 1982 .

[24]  P. J. Miller Gobies from Rhodes and the systematic features of Zebrus zebrus (Teleostei: Gobiidae) , 1977 .