Tevegae Pygmygoby, Blue-striped cave goby, Blue-striped dwarfgoby, Bluestripe pygmy goby, Bluestripe pygmygoby, Cave pygmy-goby, Tevega cave goby, Aogihaze, アオギハゼ, 尾斑磨塘鱧,

Description
Dorsal spines (total): 7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8-9, second spine slightly to moderately elongated, reaching to between base of dorsal spine of second dorsal fin and that of third ray, all fin rays branched except for posterior element of last; Anal spine: 1; Anal soft rays: 8-9, first ray usually unbranched; Pectoral fin rays: 13-15, usually unbranched; Lateral line scales: 23-24; Transverse scales: 7-8; Predorsal scales: 11-12; Depth of body about: 4.0-4.4 in SL. Breast and midline of belly with cycloid scales; 5-10 scales present on pectoral fin base; Cheek scaled, usually with three rows of cycloid scales below and behind eye, 6-8 scales in middle row, upper row of 0-1 and lower row of 2-4 scales; Opercle with at least three horizontal rows of cycloid scales. Single row of small, closely spaced, pointed teeth around lower jaw with additional outer row of larger, widely spaced, curved teeth; Two rows of small, closely spaced pointed teeth in upper jaw. Tongue rounded. Gill opening extends anteroventrally to below mid-pupil; Gill rakers: 3-5 + 15-17 = 19-21. Anterior nares in short tube, posterior opening pore-like with raised rim, nasal sac raised and positioned close to upper lip. Bony interorbital 70-100 % (mean = 83.6 %) pupil diameter; Shallowly concave with median fleshy ridge forming broadly rounded W in cross section; Epaxialis extending anteriorly to point above posterior half of pupil. Max. length: 4.5 cm TL. Depth range: 10 - 40 m.

Color
Dorsum with dark olive-green scale margins and partially translucent dark salmon scale centres, followed by light stripe about one scale in height from upper eye and gently curving ventrally to end at mid-peduncle where it forms posterodorsal to anteroventral irregular bar across entire width of peduncle just anterior to position of ural complex, with scale margins iridescent whitish blue and scale centres amethyst; An eye-diameter black blotch over ural complex and bases of caudal-fin rays grading to dark red along posterior margin; Ventrum dark red mixed with dark olive green above anal fin with narrow off-white stripe from peduncle to below pectoral-fin base and continuing anteriorly across cheek just below eye and onto chin. Head dark red above this, including most of upper jaw and medial half of lower jaw and thin line margining ventral edge of orbit. Snout also dark red mixed with dark olive green and a few light spots (may be due to reflection from camera strobe). Eye brownish, darker above with narrow gold ring around pupil, bluish-white body stripe continuing anteriorly across top of iris and touching dorsal rim of pupil, area just above this stripe red, three diffuse small light spots ventrally at 4, 6 and 8 o’clock positions. Base of pectoral fin just anterior to bases of fin rays with diffuse golden bar. Diffuse yellowish-red saddles at anterior and posterior ends of second dorsal fin and another smaller saddle just anterior to white bar on peduncle. Fin elements of dorsal fins red, other fins translucent but with vague reddish stripes on lobes of caudal fin. Specimen from Halmahera essentially similar, but dorsum lighter with white scale margins on anterior half, light lateral stripe less obvious, ventrum orange-yellow, and all visible fin elements brick-red. Cendrawasih Bay specimen a cross between these two, with light lateral stripe very diffuse, abdomen and posterorventral body orange with dense pattern of dark subdermal chromatophores, and white bar on peduncle broader.

Etymology
Trimma: from Greek, trimma, -atos = something crushed.
tevegae: for the research vessel "Te Vega". The "Te Vega" is a two-masted, gaff-rigged auxiliary schooner, a converted luxury yacht, and it was a research vessel for Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station.
Original description: Trimma tevegae Cohen & Davis, 1969 - Type locality: Dawapia Rocks, Simpson Harbor, near Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific, depth: 40-50 feet, 5 Mar. 1965, D. M. Cohen & W. P. Davis.

Distribution
Western Pacific: eastern Indonesia, east to New Ireland (Papua New Guinea) and Solomon Islands, north to Philippines, south to New Caledonia.

Biology
Inhabits coastal to outer reefs, typically in small groups in caves. Forms loose aggregations associated with shallow pockets and caves of steep drop-offs. Hovers in a head-up position (often vertical, posture in the water column) and feeds on copepods.

Similar species

• Trimma burridgeae (Winterbottom, 2016) - Reported from Western Pacific Ocean: Palau; Possibly Mariana Islands. Dark stripe in midline of snout in preserved material often made up of tiny round black melanophores, a broad diffuse internal dark stripe over the abdominal cavity which narrows and continues posteriorly on and just below the vertebral column.
• Trimma caudomaculatum (Yoshino & Araga, 1975) - Reported from Indo-West Pacific: Maldives east to New Britain (Papua New Guinea) and Solomon Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Western Australia. Blue stripe from the snout along the dorsal midline, the blue spots and stripes in front of the eye, on the opercle and beneath the eye (dark in preserved material), and the very elongate second dorsal spine, usually extending to beyond the end of the second dorsal fin.
• Trimma corerefum (Winterbottom, 2016) - Reported from Western Pacific: Sulawesi (Indonesia) east to Palau, north to Philippines. Reddish head and anterior nape except below a line bounded by the horizontal limb of preopercle, where they are white, the opercular region and abdomen are red with a liberal sprinkling of large, dark brown melanophores, a pupil-diameter wide white band across peduncle anterior to the caudal spot.
• Trimma hollemani (Winterbottom, 2016) - Reported from Western Pacific: Malaysia and eastern Indonesia east to New Britain (Papua New Guinea), north to Philippines, south to Great Barrier Reef (Queensland, Australia). Red to yellow background colour with a light stripe along the mid-lateral body that continues forward over the top of the pupil, ending posteriorly at a pale bar across the peduncle in front of the dark caudal blotch, a light stripe below the eye bordered dorsally by a narrow red stripe (both light stripes blue in life).
• Trimma nasa (Winterbottom, 2005) - Reported from New Caledonia - Link to the species (here). A large spot over the hypural region of the caudal peduncle; a dark area along the side of the body caused by peritoneal pigmentation. In all specimens, but that from Palau and New Caledonia, there is a thin, dark stripe from the upper lip to the mid region of the interorbital when preserved (white in life), a broad rounded ridge on the snout and anterior interorbital region, and a nasal sac with a tubular anterior opening and a pore-like posterior opening with a raised rim.
• Trimma yoshinoi (Suzuki, Yano & Senou, 2015) - Reported from Western Pacific: Ryukyu Islands; Japan; possibly Palau. Pectoral fin rays: 13-14; A dark blotch on posterior caudal peduncle.

Last update: 8, April 2023