Gobiodon histrio

Gobiodon histrio
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Gobiidae
Genus: Gobiodon
Species: G. histrio
Binomial name
Gobiodon histrio
(Valenciennes, 1837)
Synonyms
  • Gobius histrio Valenciennes, 1837
  • Gobiodon unicolor (Castelnau, 1873)[2]
  • Gobiodon verticalis Alleyne & W. J. Macleay, 1877

Gobiodon histrio, the Broad-barred goby, is a species of goby native to the Indian Ocean from the Red sea to the western Pacific Ocean to southern Japan, Samoa and the Great Barrier Reef. This species is a reef dweller, being found at depths of from 2 to 15 metres (6.6 to 49.2 ft). It can reach a length of 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) TL. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade.[3]

This fish produces a toxin that deters predators. When disturbed, it releases compounds that inhibit the locomotion of other fish. At high enough concentrations, the toxin causes the predator to lose equilibrium and tip over.[4][5] It takes part in a mutualistic relationship with a species of coral, Acropora nasuta. When the coral is damaged by toxic Chlorodesmis algae, it produces a compound that attracts the fish. The fish eat the alga and this enhances their toxicity.[5]

G. histrio can change sex in either direction. When a pair of gobies of the same sex colonize a new coral patch, one of them changes to the opposite sex.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ Acero, A., Fricke, R., Larson, H.K., Murdy, E. & Van Tassell, J. 2010. Gobiodon histrio. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Herler, J., Bogorodsky, S.V. & Suzuki, T. (2013): Four new species of coral gobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Gobiodon), with comments on their relationships within the genus. Zootaxa, 3709 (4): 301–329.
  3. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). "Gobiodon histrio" in FishBase. June 2013 version.
  4. ↑ Schubert, M.; Munday, P. L.; Caley, M. J.; Jones, G. P.; Llewellyn, L. E. (2003). Environmental Biology of Fishes 67 (4): 359. doi:10.1023/A:1025826829548. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dixson, D. L.; Hay, M. E. (2012). "Corals Chemically Cue Mutualistic Fishes to Remove Competing Seaweeds". Science 338 (6108): 804–807. doi:10.1126/science.1225748. PMID 23139333.
  6. ↑ Kroon, F. J.; Munday, P. L.; Pankhurst, N. W. (2003). "Steroid hormone levels and bi-directional sex change in Gobiodon histrio". Journal of Fish Biology 62: 153. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8649.2003.00017.x.
  7. ↑ Munday, P. (2002). "Bi-directional sex change: Testing the growth-rate advantage model". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 52 (3): 247–254. doi:10.1007/s00265-002-0517-8.