Three new records of Gobiidae from Malta with morphology, colouration and identification of the smallest known juveniles of two small gobiid species

摘要

Individuals of small juvenile gobies, some of them just 10 mm long, were collected during a study on infralittoral cobble bed fauna around the Maltese Islands between July and September 2011. These represent the first records of three gobiid species for Malta, including Gobius couchi Miller & El Tawil, 1974 and the smallest known juveniles of Millerigobius macrocephalus (Kolombatovi?, 1891) and Zebrus zebrus (Risso, 1827). Morphology and colouration, including diagnostic features and photographs, are provided for these species and the problems of identification of small juveniles are discussed.