White-Starred Goby (Fish) | endemiccostarica

White-starred Goby - Chriolepis dialepta

This unique creature lives, is endemic to Cocos Island, Costa RIca. This fish only grows to be around 5 cm long and is a part of one of the largest families of fish.
- The Goby family (or Gobiidae) contains more than 2,000 sepcies, almost all of them under 10 cm, and almost all or some of the smallest vertabrates in the world
Its head is somewhat flattened, without pores, and has a projecting lower jaw. Its body is covered (in a line directly atop the spinal chord) with 27-29 rows or spiny dorsal fins.

Gobies cover vast areas of the world, not just Costa Rica. They surivves mainly in brackish or freshwater environments. They spread from rivers and areas near the shore of Europe and Asia.
- Suprisingly, in all coral reefs, gobies make up over 35% of the total fish, and 20% of species diversity.
In their designated habitat, Gobies normally spend most of their time on the bottom floor, on sand and rubble bottoms

Above is the Common Golby rummaging on the forest floor, this is one of the most 'common' species of Golby

Interestingaly enough, one of the most distinct features of the Goby is their fused pelvic fins that form a disc-shaped sucker. This sucker shows evidence of convergent evolution. Functionally, it is analogous to the dorsal fin sucker and the pelvic fin sucker of the lumpsucker. (yet it is anatomically different.)
- Because of this convergent evolution, many Gobies can be seen latched on to glass on aquarium or fish-tank glass walls
The Goby species construct burrows in pairs (mates) that are used for shelter, and raising their youth
Some gobies live in a symbiosis with shrimp!

In this image (left) you can clearly see the sucker below the Goby