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Eviota pamae is a newly described species of goby which shows that although there’s a lot of stunning new species being discovered, some more beautiful than others yet the natural world under water has in store lots of surprises for us. It looks much like a minuscule of the popular sunrise hogfish from Hawaii, the sunrise dwarf goby from Indonesia is implausible in living pictures.
Two broad red stripes cover most of the body of Eviota pamae while a vivid yellow line runs through the eye, all the way across the body to the base of the tail. A smaller small bright yellow stripe is centered on the snout and streaks above the nape. The hues and the appearance in itself is so fantastic that we cannot deny the fact that this goby will soon be a dominating fish for the reef trade, i.e. only if it is found in abundance.
The Indonesian dwarf goby Eviota pamae was collected at Kei Besar, Kei Islands, Maluku Province, Indonesia. 42 of the gobies were collected, so they may not be rare and hopefully at least locally abundant. Eviota raja is the closest relative of E. pamae but that species is known only from the Raja Ampat Islands of Papua New Guinea.
Eviota species are very small and reach lengths of 13-40mm. Most are already sexually mature at a length of less than 20 mm; the females have the smallest type with a length of 9 mm. Their head is rounded, the body elongated, typically 25 or 26 vertebrae. The jaws are covered with small, pointed teeth, some of which are located at the front increases. The rays of the pectoral fins may be branched or unbranched. The suction disc ventral fins do not form, are separated and are connected only at the base by a thin membrane. They have a hard-and four to five soft rays, which is fifth, if available, simple and unbranched or only a small rudiment of the fourth, is multi-branched. The first dorsal fin has six hard jets of which one or more of the males of many species are extended filamentous (also in females in some species). The body is relatively large comb scales covered. In a medium longitudinal row on the flanks are counted less than 30 scales. Head, neck and the base of the pectoral fins are scaleless. The gills are narrow, the genital papilla of the male elongated, the females bulbous. The lateral line system is designed differently and can also be completely absent.
Eviota pamae is described from 42 specimens, 9.6-17.7 mm SL, collected at Kei Besar, Kei Islands, Maluku Province, Indonesia. It is closely related to E. raja, an allopatric species known only from the Raja Ampat Islands, off the western tip of New Guinea (West Papua Province, Indonesia). The two species differ in colour pattern details, including the presence of a single dark mark on the lower caudal-fin base of E. pamae compared to marks on both the upper and lower base in E. raja. The new species also differs in having a yellow rather than white mid-dorsal snout stripe and has a much-reduced blue marking on the lower cheek. Meristically, the two species differ in counts for segmented rays in the
second dorsal fin. The new species is described by Gerald R. Allen, William M. Brooks and Mark V. Erdmann in the latest issue of Aqua.
