The arrow goby (''Clevelandia ios'') is a species of goby native to marine and brackish waters of the Pacific coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

from British Columbia to Baja California. This species grows to a length of SL, though most do not exceed TL. This fish can also be found displayed in public aquaria. This species is the only known member of its genus.

Description

The arrow goby is a small, pale grey, translucent fish which grows to in length. It has two dorsal fins; the first is the shorter and has 4-5 spines while the dorsal fin has 15-17 soft fin rays. The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

is about equal in length to the second dorsal fin and has 14-17 fin rays. Like other gobies, the caudal fin is rounded and the pectoral fins form a cone which the goby uses to prop the anterior part of its body above the substrate. Its scales are minute, and the mouth extends beyond to the eye. The dorsal fins have short horizontal stripes and the body is pale brownish-grey in colour with darker mottling.

Distribution

Arrow gobies are found along the Pacific Coast of North America, from the Rivers Inlet in British Columbia to Baja California.

Habitat and biology

The arrow goby occurs in sand or mud substrates, where it uses burrows created by invertebrates as shelters when it is threatened and as a refuge at low tide. Some of the species which make burrows used by arrow gobies include the shrimps '' Neotrypaea californiensis'' and ''

Upogebia pugettensis ''Upogebia pugettensis'', also known as the blue mud shrimp, is a species of mud lobster from the West Coast of North America. Description ''Upogebia pugettensis'' has an elongated and broad abdomen, including a well-developed tail fin (urop ...

'' and the fat innkeeper worm '' Urechis caupo''. It is a common species of estuaries, lagoons and tidal sloughs, and it has been reported in freshwater. The adults feed on

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

, tintinnids, and the eggs and young of the host shrimp or prawn. This species will place large food items close to crabs so that the crab will tear it into smaller pieces. Arrow gobies are prey for '' Sebastes'',

staghorn sculpin The Pacific staghorn sculpin (''Leptocottus armatus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This species is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is the only species in the monospecific ...

, whitespot greenling and terns. This species does not build a nest or provide any care for its offspring, and the eggs are dispersed into the water column. The underside of this goby is silvery, and when threatened, they use this to make a brief signal to other gobies before quickly taking refuge in the burrow. This is also used to signal for mates. The individuals of this species are protogynous hermaphrodites; young adults are females and as they mature they become male.

Etymology

The generic name ''Clevelandia'' honours the lawyer Daniel Cleveland (1838–1929), who was a founder and president of the

San Diego Natural History Society The San Diego Natural History Museum is a museum located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1874 as the San Diego Society of Natural History. It is the second oldest scientific institu ...

and who made significant contributions to the knowledge of the flora and fauna of southern California. Over a dozen plants – including the Cleveland sage and another genus '' Clevelandia'' – were also named after him. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''ios'' is an Ancient Greek word for an arrow: . It refers to the slender fish's long body that is reminiscent of an arrow.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2657665 Gobionellinae Fish described in 1882 Monotypic fish genera