Pisces, Teleostei, Gobiidae, illustrated list of additions to the fauna of the Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia

Previous surveys of the reef-associated ichthyofauna of the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua, Indonesia recorded a total of 1,320 species of reef fishes, including 271 species of Gobiidae. A recent survey focused on the cryptic gobies of Raja Ampat resulted in 36 new records (including nine species of both Trimma and Eviota). Sixteen of the new records are currently undescribed species, with seven of these identified as Raja Ampat endemics, while the remaining nine species are also known from localities outside Raja Ampat in the western Pacific. Five species previously recorded from the area have been re-identified, two of them representing undescribed species, and a new record from the literature has been added. This brings the total number of reef fishes known from Raja Ampat waters to 1,357, of which 308 belong to the Gobiidae. The number of species (including the undescribed taxa) apparently endemic to the Bird’s Head Peninsula of West Papua now totals 33.