Gobiodon cobenjaminsis Hildebrandt, Froehlich, Brodenicke, Klanten, Møller & Wong, 2024

Gobiodon cobenjaminsis Hildebrandt, Froehlich, Brodenicke, Klanten, Møller & Wong, 2024 : Russet Coralgoby and previously recorded as Gobiodon sp. C

Synonyms or described as: Gobiodon sp. C ( Munday, Harold and Winterbottom, 1999).

Description: Gobiodon cobenjaminsis is a cryptic species that is rarely sighted. It is orange-brown in colouration, sporting three to four lighter bands on the facial area and a pale line along the base of the dorsal and anal fins ( Figure 12 View FIGURE 12 ). Gobiodon cobenjaminsis also shares the pale oblique patch on the cheek and lower recurved lip that is seen in some congeners, such as G. brochus . It is common for the two dorsal fins to be fused with no obvious distinction between the two except for a slightly larger gap between the last spine of the first dorsal and the first spine of the second dorsal ( Hildebrandt et al., 2024). This species was initially designated as Gobiodon sp. C by Munday et al., (1999).

Distribution: Gobiodon cobenjaminsis has only been observed in the Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea region ( Munday et al., 1999).

Habitat: Gobiodon cobenjaminsis has only been observed inhabiting the caespitose branching coral A. elseyi ( Munday et al., 1999) .

Status: Additionally, there has not been an IUCN population assessment conducted.

Sociality: There are no records of the sociality of this species, though it is expected to be low considering the species’ high level of specialisation with little to no shared habitat with congeners.

Genetics: Despite the recent description, G. cobenjaminsis has been included in numerous recent genetic analyses under a previous alias of Gobiodon sp. C ( Harold et al., 2008; Duchene et al., 2013; Herler, Bogorodsky and Suzuki, 2013). The species is typically placed in a clade with G. aoyagii , sister species G. brochus and G. bicalvolineatus ( Harold et al., 2008; Duchene et al., 2013). In one analysis, G. cobenjaminsis appeared as a sister group of the clade containing G. acicularis , G. ceramensis , G. citrinus and G. okinawae ( Herler, Bogorodsky and Suzuki, 2013) .