Notchtongue Goby, Bathygobius curacao

Notchtongue Goby, Bathygobius curacao. Fish caught from coastal waters off Spanish Harbor Key, Florida, December 2014. Length: 7.1 cm (2.8 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.

Notchtongue Goby, Bathygobius curacao. Fish caught from coastal waters off Marathon, Florida, July 2018. Length: 10.2 cm (4.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

The Notchtongue Goby, Bathygobius curacao, is a member of the Goby or Gobiidae Family, and is known in Mexico as gobio jaspeado. Their common name is derived from the tip of their tongue, which is more deeply notched than in other similar species. Globally, there are twenty-sevem species in the genus Bathygobius, of which five are found in Mexican waters, four in the Atlantic and one, this species, in the Pacific Ocean.

The Notchfin Goby has a robust rounded body. They are uniform tan in color with indistinct dark blotches in a linear pattern. In males, the anal fin and second dorsal fin have a tan stripe at the margins. Their caudal fin is dark with thin dark bars. Unlike other similar gobies, their trunk has no apparent coloration pattern. Their head is broad with large eyes set close together, a bluntly rounded snout, and a terminal mouth that extends to the center of the eyes. They are equipped with a narrow band of teeth with the outermost teeth being enlarged. Their anal fin has 1 spine and 8 rays; their caudal fin is rounded; their dorsal fin has 6 or 7 spines and 9 rays; their pectoral fins are elongated with 15 to 18 rays, 3 or 4 of which are freestanding; and, their pelvic fins are fused into a disc. They are covered with rough scales and they do not have a lateral line.

The Notchtongue Goby is small shallow-water species found in tidal pools along coastal waters including mangrove areas and sheltered seagrass beds at depths up to 5 m (15 feet). They reach a maximum length of 7.5 cm (3.0 inches). The Notchtongue Goby is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Notchtongue Goby is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.

The Notchtongue Goby can be confused with the Checkerboard Frillfin, Bathygobius lacertus (lower body with two offset rows of 6 or 7 blotches), the Frillfin Goby, Bathygobius soporator (6 or 7 blotches on flank), and the Island Frillfin, Bathygobius mystacium (6 square blotches below mid-body).

From a conservation perspective the Notchtongue Goby is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are small in stature and of  limited interest to most.