Griffiths' Pygmygoby
Geography: Indian Ocean, Peros Banhos Atoll, British Indian Ocean Territory, Chagos Archipelago, Isle Du Coin about 700 m directly off jetty near Bamburi Knoll in lagoon. Longitude: 0714553 E; Latitude: 052536 S
Date: March 3, 1979
Dimensions:maximum length=17.8 mm
Taxonomy
- Attributes
- Objects
- Taxonomy
- Kingdom:
Animalia
- Phylum:
Chordata
- Class:
Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
- Order:
Gobiiformes
- Family:
Gobiidae
- Genus:
Trimma
- SpecificEpithet:
griffithsi
Object number: 41227
DescriptionThis species belongs to a subgroup in the genus characterized by a wide space across the top of the head and between the eyes. The maximum recorded length for this fish is 17.8 mm from the snout tip to the end of the vertebral column. The species is named for Major John D. Griffiths, then of the Royal Signals (a unit of the British Armed Forces responsible for communications). Major Griffiths ably lead the expedition to the Chagos Archipelago in 1979 during which the fish was first collected. This species was only present in two collections made at 25-32 m in the lagoon of Peros Banhos Atoll. On both occasions the number of specimens would suggest that it lives in schools. Other species in this subgroup form large schools which hover in the water column near the reef, picking out plankters (small or microscopic organisms) from the passing water currents. Specimens of this species have subsequently been collected or photographed sporadically on reefs in Indonesia, New Britain and Ryukyu.