Get the Signal? It’s a Goby!

One of Gorontalo?s cuter residents is the Signalfin goby. Growing up to three centimeters in length, this translucent fish has tiny dark spots sprinkled over its body. Its iris is red-brown and a green light shines from its pupil. Its first dorsal fin has matching red-brown markings. Although it sits motionless on the sand near clumps of coral, it is easily noticed because it flicks its dorsal fin up and down. Found in the Western Pacific from Indonesia to Australia, it is quite common on the sandy slopes of our Sentinels dive site where this picture was taken. The Signalfin goby is only profiled in one fish book, the new Reef Fish Identification: Tropical Pacific (Allen, Steene, Humann, Deloach). Although only named in 1988, the scientific community seems split as whether it should be called Coryphopterus signipinnis or Fusigobius signipinnis.