Author: (Lowe, 1839)
Thorogobius ephippiatus (Lowe, 1839)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Thorogobius ephippiatus (Lowe, 1839) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: Pelvic disc complete, with anterior membrane as deep in ventral midline as length of pelvic spinous ray, and rear edge rounded, fifth branched ray longer than fourth. Dl VI (VI-VII); D2 I + 11 (10-12); A I + 10; P 17-19 (17-20). Scales in lateral series 36-38 (33-42). Vertebrae 28. Colour: pale fawn or sandy with large orange to brick-red blotches over head and body; first dorsal fin with posterior dark blotch; males may become dark purple. Size: to 13 cm.
Habitat: inshore, in or near crevices of steep rock faces, to 40 m, usually 6-12 m; rarely in deep intertidal pools. Food: crustaceans (copepods, amphipods, decapods), polychaetes, gastropods, algae. Reproduction: May-July (Plymouth; Connemara); sexually mature at 3 or 4 years. Fecundity 2,532-12,056 at 6.1-8.8 cm. Lifespan: 9 years.
Distribution: eastern Atlantic (Scotland to Madeira and the Salvage Is.) and Mediterranean. Atlantic range now known from Sweden (Holm and Mattson, 1981) and Canaries (Miller, 1984).
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). Miller, 1969: 844.