Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated. Tropical
Distribution
Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri
Eastern Central Pacific. Costa Rica (Isla del Coco, Galapagos).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 4.6 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 92840)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Distinguished by the following characteristics: small; brightly colored with reds, browns, blues and yellows arranged in spots, bars, or stripes in varying combinations (Ref. 92840).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.
Lives in crevices and deep recesses in the rocks. Like other Elacatinus, this species is a cleaner; it picks parasites from other fishes. In areas of the reef where there is a floor of sand that is protected by an overhanging ledge, reef whitetip sharks may be observed lying about like a stack of cord wood. It is in these areas that this goby lives and it can clean the reef whitetips (Ref. 28023).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Hoese, D.F., 1995. Gobiidae. Gobios, chanquetes y guasetas. p. 1129-1135. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome. (Ref. 9304)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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