Dwarfgobies are tiny fish that live on coral reefs. They measure less than 1.8 centimeters (0.7 inches) long, which makes them one of the smallest vertebrate animals on Earth. Dwarfgobies live in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, the vast area of ocean where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet around Australia and Southeast Asia.
Dwarfgobies are called “cryptobenthic reef fishes,” which means that they are hard to spot because they’re small and mostly live camouflaged near the seafloor.
Recently scientists in Papua New Guinea found a new species of dwarfgoby that was NOT hard to spot. This dwarfgoby species is an unusual purplish-black color.
“It stood out to us immediately, as while there are many dwarfgobies in the 1-4m [3.3-13 feet] depth range on coral reefs, none have this unique purplish-black coloration,” explains Mark V. Erdmann, one of the scientists who found the fish. “Immediately upon seeing this fish we knew it was something special.”
The purplish-black color of the dwarfgoby reminded the scientists of a certain Star Wars villain. They named the new species Eviota vader after the Star Wars villain Darth Vader.
There are no reports of whether Eviota vader uses a tiny lightsaber to fight off predators. It is known that dwarfgobies, while small, are important fish in their habitats.
“We increasingly believe they play a very important role in the reef ecosystem,” says Mark Erdmann. “Some scientists have referred to dwarfgobies as the ‘rice of the reef’ — meaning, while they are small and hardly a mouthful, they are in many ways a ‘staple’ food that many piscivorous [fish-eating] fishes rely upon to fill their bellies.”
David Brown adapted this story for Mongabay Kids. It is based on an article by Kristine Sabillo, published on Mongabay News.
