Author: Risso, 1810
Gouania wildenowi Risso, 1810
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Gouania willdenowi (Risso, 1810) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: a medium-sized fish with rudimentary dorsal and anal fins. Body slender and compressed; depth 6.6-7.6 times in SL; head rounded in dorsal outline; snout not produced. Teeth small, conical, recurved, in deep patches towards front of each jaw, becoming narrowed to single row along sides; teeth at corners of upper jaw the largest. Pseudobranch absent. Six small, pointed rakers on third gill arch. Dorsal and anal fins modified into low ridges, continuous with caudal. Dorsal finrays 14-19 (m= 16); anal finrays 13-20 (m= 15); pectoral finrays 18-21 (m= 19); caudal finrays 11-14 (m= 12). Vertebrae 38. Structure of disc as illustrated in Fig. 1, except no papillae in region A, and those in region B and C comparatively large and few in number. Colour: life colours vary: greyish, pale yellowish or as a dead leaf with reddish dots. Size: to about 50 mm SL.
Habitat, Food, Reproduction: no data.
Distribution: Mediterranean from Syria to Banyuls-sur-Mer.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. No data.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.