Common names: English: Steinitz's goby
German: Steinitz-Grundel

Synonyms: none

Length: 3 - 4 cm.

Colouration
Pale with 5 or 6 brown bands across the body. Characteristic: Small dark spots on base of dorsal fins.

Description
Praedorsal area and head nacked. Eyes relatively large. Head not flattened.
29-37 scales in lateral series.
Fins: D1 VI; D2 I+10; A I+9; P 15-16.

Food
Carnivorous.

Reproduction
No informations.

Habitat
5 - 25 m. Rocky shores. Hidden in deep caves, rests usually at the walls of the caves. Might also be found in small cavities.

Distribution
Mediterranean; western Mediterranean, Sicily (verified after photograph), Adriatic and Aegean Sea.

Literature on Gammogobius steinitzi

Ahnelt H. & R.A. Patzner, 1996: Kryptobenthische Meergrundeln von den Balearen (Westliches Mittelmeer) mit Anmerkungen zum Unterartstatus von Chromogobius zebratus levanticus. Ann. Nat. Hist. Mus. Wien 98B: 529-544.

Ahnelt H., J. Herler, S. Scsepka & R.A. Patzner, 1998: First records of two rare Mediterranean Gobiidae in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea: Cybium 22: 183-186.

Bath H., 1971: Gammogobius steinitzi n. gen. n. sp. aus dem westlichen Mittelmeer. Senckenberg. biol. 52: 201-210.

Engin S., Irmak E., Seyhan D., Akdemir T. & A.C. Keskin (2016): Gobiid fishes of the coastal zone of the Northeastern Aegean Sea. Mar Biodiv. DOI 10.1007/s12526-016-0550-x

Francour P., Bodilis P., Cottalorda J.M., Seytre C. 2010. Inventaire des Gobiidae dans la Réserve Naturelle de Scandola (Corse) et à proximité de ses limites. Contrat Parc Naturel Régional de la Corse. Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, ECOMERS publ., Nice: 1-54.

Herler J. & R.A. Patzner, 2001: Microhabitats of cryptobenthic gobies in submarine cave systems. 10. Europ. Congr. Ichthyol, Prague. p. 105.

Kovacic M., 2005: An annotated checklist of the family Gobiidae in the Adriatic Sea. Annales Ser. hist. nat. 15: 1-24.

Kovacic M., 2020: Checklist of gobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae) of the Mediterranean Sea and a key for species identification. Zootaxa 4877: 075-101.

Kovacic M., Miletic M. & Papageorgiou N., 2011: A first checklist of gobies from Crete with ten new records. Cybium 35: 245-253.

Kovacic M. & Patzner R.A., 2011: North-Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Gobies. In: The Biology of Gobies. (Eds: Patzner R.A. et al.) Science Publishers: 177-206.

Kovtun O.A. & Manilo L.G, 2013: Mediterranean fish - Gammogobius steinitzi Bath, 1971 (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Gobiidae) - a new representative of the Black Sea ichthyofauna. Acta Ichthyol. Piscat. 43: 307-314.

Louisy P., 2002: Meeresfische, Westeuropa, Mittelmeer. Ulmer, Stuttgart.

Miller P.J., 1986: Gobiidae. In: Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean . Volume III. (Eds.: Whitehead P.J.P. et al.) pp. 1019-1085. UNESCO, Paris.

Patzner R.A., 1999: Habitat utilization and depth distribution of small cryptobenthic fishes (Blenniidae, Gobiesocidae, Gobiidae, Tripterygiidae) at Ibiza (western Mediterranean Sea ). Enviroment. Biol. Fish. 55: 207-214.

Patzner R.A. & J. Herler, 2001: Mikrohabitate von kryptobenthischen Meergrundeln in marinen Höhlensystemen. 3. Tg. Ges. Ichthyol., Wien. p. 37.

Ragkousis M., Digenis M., Kovacic M., Katsanevakis S. & Gerovasileiou V. (2021): Rarely reported cryptobenthic fish in marine caves of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 9, 557.

Scsepka S. & H. Ahnelt, 1999: Wiederbeschreibung von Gammogobius steinitzi Bath 1971 sowie ein Erstnachweis von Corcyrogobius liechtensteini (Kolombatovic 1891) für Frankreich (Pisces, Gobiidae). Senckenb. Biol. 79: 71-81.

Photographs of Gammogobius steinitzi

Gammogobius steinitzi, In typical habitat. Ibiza, Baleares, 10 m depth, cave, September 1992 Photograph: Robert A. Patzner©	Gammogobius steinitzi, Ibiza, Baleares, 9 m depth, cave, July 1988 Photograph: Robert A. Patzner©

Gammogobius steinitzi Near Terrauzza, Siracura, Sicily, Italy, 22 m depth, cave, 1999 Photograph: Alessandro Pagano ©

Drawings of Gammogobius steinitzi

Drawings from Miller, 1986

Copyright © 2016 - Robert A. Patzner, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Univ. Salzburg, Austria.
State: 2016-04-17
E-mail: robert.patzner@sbg.ac.at