A western Scottish population of the leopard‐spotted goby, Thorogobius ephippiatus (Lowe) (Teleostei: Gobioidea)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A population of the sublittoral leopard‐spotted goby, Thorogobius ephippiatus (Lowe, 1839), is recorded from Upper Loch Torridon, Scotland, and the more northerly occurrence of this Mediterranean‐Atlantic species along western Scottish coasts confirmed. Modified methods of capture are described. Distinctive systematic features of this population, which tends to have low sensory papilla and pectoral ray values, are examined with reference to other T. ephippiatus and the related T. macrolepis (Kolombatovic, 1891). The time of onset and reasons for this local differentiation are discussed.