The Unusual Hoesei’s Goby is creature of the month

First described as recently as 2018, instead of sitting on sand or coral like most gobies, Hoesei's Goby hovers above the bottom. 

Hoesei’s goby is small, growing to just 6.5 cm (2.5 inches). It has three ocelli or ringed spots on its upper side. You find it in the Red Sea, amongst coral rubble or patchy reefs where it feeds on plankton.

Image: Jill Studholme

Look for it between 3 and 20 m down. Usually solitary but as our photo shows, also found in pairs.

Image: Jill Studholme

Unique to the Red Sea

Until recently this goby was thought to be Hector’s goby, K. hectori, which is found elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific. In 2018 though, researchers lead by Marcelo Kovacic found that in the Red Sea & the Gulf of Aden a completely new species occurs. They named the newly described goby after the ichthyologist Douglass Hoese who has made significant contributions to the study of gobies.

The scientists estimate that the two species K. hoesei and K. hectori separated from their common ancestor in the early Pleistocene, when the Red Sea became effectively isolated from the Indian Ocean due to lowered sea levels during periodic glacial periods. You can tell the two apart by the extra stripe going over the eye in Hoesei’s.

Vertebrata > Osteichthyes > Teleostei > Gobiiformes > Gobiinae > Koumansetta > Koumansetta hoesei

References

Marcelo Kovacic et al, Redescription of the genus Koumansetta (Teleostei: Gobiidae), with description of a new species from the Red Sea. Zootaxa 4459 (3): 453–481