Pictured above is an incredible sample ofNavigobiusfound in the Philippines which extends the range of this eye-popping genus by more than a thousand miles. TheNavigobiusgenus was just created less than five years ago to describe the first and only recognized species thus far,Navigobius dewafrom Japan.
Until a few months ago, Dewa’s dartfish was just a holy grail goby for those of us who are into that sort of thing, but then a veryfew specimens were collected aliveand a couple even went to Singapore. The specimen in the bag is the first recorded collection forNavigobius日本以外的,我这条鱼是有天赋的ncredibly bright pink to purple coloration that is hinted at in pictures of Japanese specimens, but truly glows in the Filipino individual.
It’s wholly possible that thisNavigobiusis a new species as many dartfish are differentiated on slight color differences but a whole lot more collections and samples would be required to make any kind of judgment either way. Better yet, our tipster reports that this fish was caught “very deep” in the Philippines and perhaps this means likeCirrhilabrus cf. lanceolatus“deep” in that it’s could be just about 100 to 150 feet so just within reach of professional fish collectors.
Only time will tell whether thisNavigobiusspecimen is a fluke or if more will be observed and maybe collected for the aquarium trade. We’ll try to uncover more about the source and origin of this stunning dartfish from the Philippines and we really hope that more individuals are collected so can better observe and study them.
