Dr. Lee Richter, USA
Info
Although Elacatinus tenox is classified as “LC= Least concern = not threatened” in the IUCN Red List (as of 2011), photos of the small goby are very rare.
We would therefore like to thank Dr. Lee Richter, USA, for making his photos available to us.
Life consists of eating and being eaten and the use of various adaptations to avoid the dangers of predators as far as possible, anemonefish live in nettling anemones, pufferfish inflate themselves to avoid being swallowed, other species take on the shape and coloration of poisonous animals (mimicry and mimesis), spray ink to hide, adapt almost perfectly to their environment, and so on and so forth.
This list could easily be extended to include many more survival strategies and tactics.
One particular strategy has been adopted by Elacatinus tenox, the goby inhabits the poisonous sponge Neofibularia nolitangere (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864), which is aptly called the “touch-me-not sponge”. The sponge contains a toxin that can cause various skin irritations such as itching, burning, swelling and blistering when touched, even by divers, see:
https://de.scubadivermag.com/a-divers-warning-the-potential-risks-of-marine-sponge-contact/
The body and fins of Elacatinus tenox are uniformly dark, slate-grey in color, with a short, striking yellow central stripe on the tip of the snout and two yellow stripes running from the eyes to above the pectoral fin.
Synonym: Gobiosoma tenox Böhlke & Robins, 1968
We would therefore like to thank Dr. Lee Richter, USA, for making his photos available to us.
Life consists of eating and being eaten and the use of various adaptations to avoid the dangers of predators as far as possible, anemonefish live in nettling anemones, pufferfish inflate themselves to avoid being swallowed, other species take on the shape and coloration of poisonous animals (mimicry and mimesis), spray ink to hide, adapt almost perfectly to their environment, and so on and so forth.
This list could easily be extended to include many more survival strategies and tactics.
One particular strategy has been adopted by Elacatinus tenox, the goby inhabits the poisonous sponge Neofibularia nolitangere (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864), which is aptly called the “touch-me-not sponge”. The sponge contains a toxin that can cause various skin irritations such as itching, burning, swelling and blistering when touched, even by divers, see:
https://de.scubadivermag.com/a-divers-warning-the-potential-risks-of-marine-sponge-contact/
The body and fins of Elacatinus tenox are uniformly dark, slate-grey in color, with a short, striking yellow central stripe on the tip of the snout and two yellow stripes running from the eyes to above the pectoral fin.
Synonym: Gobiosoma tenox Böhlke & Robins, 1968
