A taxonomic review of the gobiid fish genus Rhinogobius Gill, 1859, from Taiwan, with descriptions of three new species

Abstract

The taxonomic status of the freshwater gobiid genus Rhinogobius, specimens of whcih were collected throughout Taiwan is reviewed. Nine species of this genus are recognized which can be assigned into 2 species complexes. The R. giurinus complex has only a single species, R. giurinus (Rutter, 1897); and the R. brunneus complex contains the remaining 8 species: 5 valid nominal species (R. candidianus [Regan 1908]; R. nagoyae formosanus Oshima, 1919; R. rubromaculatus Lee & Chang, 1996; R. gigas Aonuma & Chen, 1996, and R. nantaiensis Aonuma & Chen, 1996), and 3 new species, R. delicatus, R, maculafasciatus, and R. henchuenensis. These species can be distinguished by the combination of fin ray count, vertebrae count, scalation, color pattern, habitat, and distribution. The 3 new species are described here with a key and specimen photos, as well as with morphological comparisons of all species of this genus distributed in Taiwan.