Nemateleotris lavandula, known by lavender-blushed dartfish, is a species of dartfish which was described in 2023 on the basis of the holotype from Augulupelu Reef, Palau, and twelve paratypes from across the western and central Pacific Ocean, including Fiji, Guam, Japan, and the Marshall Islands. It was previously confused with the Helfrich's dartfish (Nemateleotris helfrichi).[1][2]
| Nemateleotris lavandula | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Gobiiformes |
| Family: | Gobiidae |
| Genus: | Nemateleotris |
| Species: | N. lavandula
|
| Binomial name | |
| Nemateleotris lavandula Yi-Kai Tea & Helen K. Larson, 2023
| |
Description edit
Members of this species measures 5 cm in length has a lavender to lilac body, becoming increasingly pale toward caudal peduncle.
Distribution edit
Its distribution follows the northwestern contours of the Pacific Plate, from Yakushima Island in southern Japan, throughout the Ryukyu and the Ogasawara Islands, and south to Taiwan and the northern Philippines, extending east across Micronesia, including the Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the Mariana Islands.[3]
References edit
- ^ Yi-Kai Tea; Helen K. Larson (2023). "Synopsis of the ptereleotrine goby genus Nemateleotris, with description of a new species from the western and central Pacific Ocean (Teleostei: Gobiidae)" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 71: 248–266. doi:10.26107/RBZ-2023-0019. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ Tea, Yi-Kai (20 March 2023). "Gobsmacking goby fish species found in museums". australian.museum. Australian Museum. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
- ^ "Meet Nemateleotris lavandula, the Lavender-blushed Dartfish". reefbuilders.com. Reef Builders. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.