Mugilogobius notospilus

(Günther, 1877)

Freshwater Mangrovegoby

Mugilogobius (“Mangrove Gobies”) is a genus of small, hardy gobies typically found in mangrove creeks, storm drains and other brackish or freshwater habitats close to the coast. A 2001 taxonomic revision by Helen Larson recognised 25 species in the genus, nine of them then known from Australia.

Mugilogobius notospilus occurs in north-eastern Queensland from the Daintree to Cardwell, as well as across the tropical western Pacific, favouring low-flow, shaded water close to river mouths, including sites on the Johnstone and Mulgrave Rivers. It has also been photographed in decidedly less picturesque urban habitat — storm drains carrying sugarcane runoff around Cairns.

Compiled for Home of the Rainbowfish from ANGFA sources: Anonymous, “Mugilogobius notospilus”, In-Stream 23, 2014, pp. 20–21; J. Lenagan, “Cairns to Weipa and back… the Gobioides. Part 1”, Fishes of Sahul 33, 2019, pp. 1448–1483; J. Lenagan, “Cairns to Weipa and back, through a new lens: Part 2. Gobioides of the Wet Tropics”, Fishes of Sahul 34, 2020, pp. 1642–1657.