Diademichthys lineatus (Sauvage, 1883)
photo by Randall, J.E.

Family:  Gobiesocidae (Clingfishes and singleslits), subfamily: Diademichthyinae
Max. size:  5 cm TL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  reef-associated; marine; depth range 3 - 20 m
Distribution:  Western Indian Ocean: Oman (Ref. 11441) and Mauritius (Ref. 33390). Western Pacific: Indonesia to Fiji and Tonga (Ref. 53797), north to southern Japan (Ref. 559), south to northern Australia.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13-15; Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 12-14. Distinguished by its long spatulate snout and slender shape; reddish or brown with a pair of yellow stripes on upper half of the head and body.
Biology:  Lives in close association with long-spined sea urchins or branching corals of sheltered reefs (Ref. 9710). Juvenile fish eat pedicellariae and sphaeridia of the host Diadema and commensal copepods; adult fish eat burrowing bivalves in corals as well as tube feet of their host and eggs of a commercial shrimp (Ref. 33619).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 13 March 2015 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless
Country info:  Known in Calamianes Islands, northern Palawan (Ref. 48613). A specimen was collected by spoon net in Big Lagoon at Miniloc I. near El Nido, FRLM 11835 (Ref. 10558).


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