Table Of ContentGobius kolombatoviciin the north-western Mediterranean FRANCOUR&MANGIALAJO
Gobius kolombatovici, originally described from a small island
in Croatia (Adriatic), is therefore a species present in probably all
the north-western Mediterranean Sea. This shy bottom-dwelling
species may be considered as a fish typical in the coralligenous bio-
coenosis, between 20 to 60 m depth. An accurate exploration of
suitable habitats will probably confirm its presence along all the
north-western Mediterranean coasts.
A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s. - The authors are grateful to Anne Ganteaume (Ate-
lier Bleu, La Ciotat), Valérie Davenet (Ministry of Environment, Monaco),
David Lucquet (Observatoire marin de Villefranche/Mer), Philippe Robert
(National Park of Port-Cros), and Franck Finelli (Natural Reserve of Scan-
dola) for field facilities or SCUBAdiving assistance.
Figure 1. - Specimen of Gobius kolombatoviciphotographed in the Natural REFERENCES
Reserve of Scandola (Corsica, north-western Mediterranean) at 60 m depth
in October 1999 (photograph by Franck Finelli). [Spécimen de G o b i u s A H N E LTH. & R.A. PATZNER, 1995. - Anew species of D i d o g o -
k o l o m b a t o v i c iphotographié dans la réserve naturelle de Scandola (Corse, b i u s ( Teleostei:Gobiidae) from the western Mediterranean.
M é d i t e rranée nord-occidentale) à 60 m de profondeur en octobre 1999 Cybium, 19: 95-102.
(photographie de Franck Finelli).] B A L L E S TAL., MILLER P.J & J.-P. QUIGNARD, 1998. - First
record of Didogobius schlieweniMiller, 1992 (Gobiidae) in the
on the body, but a few blotches on the nape, all of them circular. Th i s western Mediterranean Sea. Cybium, 22: 290-292.
pattern is easily seen underwater or on photograph taken from above. B ATH H., 1971. - Gammagobius steinitzin. gen. n. sp. aus dem
In the new locations where G. kolombatovici was reported westlichen Mittelmeer.Senckerberg. Biol., 52: 201-210.
( Tab. I), it always occurred in a habitat similar to that described by HERLER J. & R.A. PATZNER, 2002. - New records of D i d o g o b -
Kova i and Miller (2000). The fishes layed on shell-sand or coarse ius splechtnai(Gobiidae) from the Tyrrhenian and northern
sand, at the foot of rock walls, never more than a metre from shelter Adriatic Sea. Cybium, 26: 153-155.
(crevices, small caves, space below boulders), or just at the
HERLER J., PATZNER R.A., A H N E LTH. & H. HILGERS, 1999.
entrance of shelter, where they rapidly escaped during the approach
- Habitat selection and ecology of two speleophilic gobiid fis h-
of a SCUBAd i v e r. The soft sediment was always coarse, shell- es (Pisces: Gobiidae) from the western Mediterranean Sea.
sand, without mud, except in Monaco where the mud proportion is PSZNI Mar. Ecol., 20: 49-62.
h i g h e r. Most of invertebrate and fish species observed around G .
K O VA M. & P.J. MILLER, 2000. - Anew species of G o b i u s
kolombatoviciwere typical of coralligenous biocoenosis: Eunicella
( Teleostei: Gobiidae) from the northern Adriatic Sea. C y b i u m,
cavolinii, Paramuricea clavata, Petrosia ficiformis, Leptopsammia 24: 231-239.
p ruvoti, Myriapora truncata, Porella cervicornis, Thoro g o b i u s
MILLER P.J., 1966. - Anew genus and species of gobiid fish from
macrolepis, Gobius vittatusand Parablennius rouxi.
the eastern Mediterranean. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (13)8: 161-
In Croatia, Kova i and Miller (2000) described the soft sedi-
172.
ment as often slightly enriched with silt. They depicted the same
common species inhabiting with G. kolombatovici. The habitat of MILLER P.J., 1968. - Anew species of P o m a t o s c h i s t u s( Te l e o s t e i :
Gobiidae) from western Sicily.Ann. Mus. Civ. Storia Nat. Gen -
this species, in the Adriatic and in the north-western Mediterranean
ova, 77: 221-231.
is then clearly the coralligenous biocoenosis, with coarse, shell-
sand, with or without a slight proportion of silt or mud. MILLER P.J., 1982. - Anew P o m a t o s c h i s t u sfrom the Mediter-
In July 2005, in Villefranche/Mer, the densities of G. kolombat - ranean, and redescription of P. tort o n e s e i M i l l e r, 1968.
oviciof about 1 specimen for 20 m2were recorded along 10 m long Senckerberg. Biol., 62: 5-19.
and 2 m wide transects, at depths between 37 and 42 m (n = 6). A MILLER P.J., 1992. - Anew species of D i d o g o b i u s ( Te l e o s t e i :
ratio of about 15 T. macro l e p i sto 1 G. kolombatoviciwas found in Gobiidae) from the Adriatic Sea. J. Nat. Hist., 26: 1413-1419.
these transects. In Port-Cros national park and in Monaco, such PATZNER R.A., 1999. - Habitat utilization and depth distribution
assessments were not done, but the density and ratio between the of small cryptobenthic fishes (Blenniidae, Gobiesocidae, Gobi-
two species are probably similar. In Croatia, Kova i and Miller idae, Tripterygiidae) in Ibiza (western Mediterranean Sea).
(2000) reported a higher density with one specimen every 1 or 2 m Environ. Biol. Fish., 55: 207-214.
along the base of a vertical rock face. VAN TA S S E LJ.L., 1988. - Anew species of D i d o g o b i u s( P e r c i-
Several species of Gobiidae (less than 7 cm total length) were formes: Gobiidae) from the Canary Islands. Am. Mus. Nat.
described in the last decades (Miller, 1966, 1968, 1982, 1992; Bath, Hist., 2906: 1-8.
1971; Zander and Jelinek, 1976; Van Tassel, 1988, 2001; Ahnelt and
VAN TASSELJ.L., 2001. - Chromogobius(Teleostei: Gobiidae): A
Pa t z n e r , 1995). All of them are small-sized, and almost cryptic fish e s .
new species from the Eastern Atlantic. Copeia: 1073-1080.
The discovery of a new, relatively large, species is more amazing.
ZANDER C.D. & H.J. JELINEK, 1976. - Zur demersen Fischfauna
Even in some places like the national Park of Port-Cros, where the
im Bereich der Grotte von Banjole (Rovinj/YU) mit Beschrei-
s c i e n t i fic diving and the fish assemblage studies are quite frequent,
bung von Speleogobius trigloidesn. gen. n. sp. (Gobiidae, Per-
this species was never reported. However, the behaviour of G .
ciformes). Mitt. Hamburg. Zool. Mus. Inst., 73: 265-280.
ko l o m b a t o v i c i (shy species, sheltering in cave) and a possible under-
water misidentification with T h o rogobius macro l e p i scould explain
its recent discovery. Clearly, in the case of Cassis and Scandola (Cor- Reçu le 24 février 2006.
sica) (Tab. I), this species was misidentified with T. macrol e p i s . Accepté pour publication le 23 mai 2006.
390 Cybium 2007, 31(3)
Notes ichtyologiques / Ichthyological notes
Gobius kolombatovici, a common species of Gobiidae
in the north-western Mediterranean Sea?
by
Patrice FRANCOUR(1) & Luisa MANGIALAJO(2)
R É S U M É. - Gobius kolombatovici, une espèce commune de MATERIALS AND METHODS
Gobiidae en Méditerranée nord-occidentale ?
We took a slide of an unknown Gobiidae in January 2005, close
Gobius kolombatoviciest un Gobiidae décrit en 2000 à partir de to a deep rocky area (45 m deep) near Villefranche/Mer (Ta b .I) .
onze spécimens provenant de l’île de Krk en Croatie (Adriatique).
According to the clear and characteristic pattern of head and body
La coloration très particulière de cette espèce permet de l’identifie r
blotches, this fish was identified as Gobius kolombatovici. To con-
sous l’eau, sans réaliser de prélèvement. De nouvelles signalisations
de G. kolombatovicisont rapportées pour la Méditerranée nord- firm this determination, we captured two specimens in June 2005.
occidentale (Monaco, Vil l e f r a n c h e / M e r , Parc national de Port-Cros, The morphometric and meristic characteristics, as well as the head
Cassis, Réserve naturelle de Scandola en Corse), entre 40 et 60 m de lateral-line canal systems, were similar to those described by
p r o f o n d e u r. G. kolombatovici, de par son habitat (coralligène), son K o v a i and Miller (2000). Since June 2005, we: (1) reviewed
mode de vie (craintif, se cache vite à l’abri) et une confusion pos- underwater photographs that we previously took in rocky area to
sible sous l’eau avec T h o rogobius macro l e p i s, n’a été que récem- verify misidentification of this species; and (2) occasionally
ment décrit. Sa répartition géographique correspond probablement à prospected suitable habitats in north-western Mediterranean by
toute la Méditerranée nord-occidentale et l’Adriatique.
SCUBAdiving to seek this species.
Key words.- Gobiidae - Gobius kolombatovici- MED - A d r i a t i c
Sea - Geographical distribution.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Gobius kolombatovici was recently described from eleven The geographic distribution of G. kolombatoviciis larger than
specimens collected at the eastern coast of the Island of Krk, in the that cited in the literature (Kova i and Miller, 2000) (Tab. I). We
northern Adriatic Sea by Kova i and Miller (2000). This new have observed this species in Monaco, Corsica, and along the south
species was assigned to G o b i u s on the basis of agreement with coast of France in the three departments of Provence-Alpes-Côte
diagnostic features of the genus, but differed from other species d’Azur region, namely Bouches-du-Rhône (Cassis), Var (Port-Cros)
most obviously by the possession of a prominent dark spot on the and Alpes-Maritimes (Villefranche/Mer). The characteristic colour
rear part of the first dorsal fin. The systematics of Gobiidae is main- pattern allowed easy identification during SCUBAdiving. Ac c u r a t e
ly based on the head lateral-line canal system. However, some underwater and aquarium observations of several specimens allowed
species can be accurately determined to the species level by under- to complete this pattern with the presence of a special blotch on the
water observations of colour patterns (e.g. Ballesta et al.,1 9 9 8 ; nape, behind the eyes (Fig. 1). This blotch has a ‘chromosome-like’
Herler et al., 1999, Patzner, 1999; Herler and Patzner, 2002). form, topped with an upside down Ybehind the eyes. This character-
According Kova i and Miller (2000), G. kolombatoviciis easily istic pattern was not observed on T h o rogobius macro l e p i s, another
distinguishable from the other north-eastern Atlantic and Mediter- Gobiidae sharing the same habitat and similar pale orange blotches
ranean Gobiidae species by: (i) the body and head having orange
spots and blotches; (ii) nine dark orange blotches longer than deep
along the lateral midline, including two blotches below D1, five
below D2, and two on the caudal peduncle; and (iii) D1 with a
black blotch in the upper posterior corner (on D1 IVand D1 V).
Gobius kolombatoviciwas originally found at four closely-situ-
ated localities at the eastern coast of Krk Island, Croatia, A d r i a t i c
Sea. G. kolombatoviciwas described as a bottom-dwelling species,
and observed at depths of 15 to 38 m. The depth distribution seems
to depend on the presence of a suitable habitat: a combination of
soft sediment (detritic coarse sand and fine or shell gravel) and
rocks, usually at the foot of rock walls, and among boulders and
rocks. In Croatia, G. kolombatoviciusually occurred on soft sub-
Table I. - New in situobservations of Gobius kolombatoviciin the Mediter-
strate near or just at the entrance of a shelter. This species, which
ranean done by SCUBAdiving, with underwater determination of the
grows up to 10 cm total length, was described as shy when com-
species using its characteristic colour pattern. [Nouvelles observations i n
pared to other G o b i u sspecies, and rarely allows SCUBAdivers to s i t ude Gobius kolombatovicien Méditerranée. Les observations ont été
approach close to it. In this paper, we report new records of this faites en plongée sous-marine et les identifications réalisées à l’aide des
species in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. caractéristiques de la coloration.]
(1) E.A. 3156 “Gestion de la biodiversité”, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice CEDEX2, FRANCE.
[[email protected]]
(2) Dip.Te.Ris., University of Genoa, C.so Europa 26, 16132 Genoa, ITALY.
Cybium 2007, 31(3): 389-390.
