Two New Species Of Freshwater Goby Discovered In Palawan

A team of biologists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) in Japan, and Western Philippines University (WPU) in the Philippines have found two new species of goby fish in Palawan. The goby fish, both belonging to the genus Rhinogobius were described recently in the journal Zootaxa.

Photo Insert: The new goby species, Rhinogobius estrellae (left), is small, typically around 3 to 4.5 cm in length. It has orange fins and sky-blue spots dotted along the body, while the new goby species Rhinogobius tandikan (right) is similar in size and form to Rhinogobius estrallae, but has a more yellow coloring.

One of the species was given the Latin scientific name, Rhinogobius estrellae, and was named for the waterfall, Estrella Falls, in Barangay Estrella Village, where the goby was discovered, ScienceDaily reported on Jan. 14, 2022.

The second species was named Rhinogobius tandikan, with the name inspired by the Palawan peacock-pheasant, known locally as “Tandikan.”

"The Tandikan goby has these blue markings on its body, which reminded me of the spots in the Tandikan's plumage," said Dr. Ken Maeda, first author of the study and staff scientist in the Marine Eco-Evo-Devo Unit at OIST.

Rhinogobius estrellae and Rhinogobius tandikan are the third and fourth new goby species discovered in Palawan as part of a collaboration project between OIST and WPU, following Stiphodon palawanensis described in 2015, and Lentipes palawanirufus, described in a study last year.

The identification of Rhinogobius species in the tropical islands of Palawan shows that the range of this goby genus extends much further south than previously known. "We were very surprised the first time we saw Rhinogobius estrallae, and then really excited when we found the second species," said Dr. Maeda.

"The Rhinogobius habitat is typically located in temperate and sub-tropical regions further north than Palawan, in places like Vietnam, China, Japan, and even the Russian Far East. Finding gobies from this genus in Palawan was very unexpected!"

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