Common Name: Elegant Goby

Distribution: Rare in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Western Pacific region: Australia, New Caledonia and Fiji. Recently reported from Tonga. In Australia recorded from the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to northern New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents sandy and rubble areas retreating to a small burrow when threatened. Depth 2 – 33 m.

Additional Notes: Black spot on first dorsal fin, and gold bars on body connected by gold stripe along the midline may sometimes be present. Grows to 12 cm.

References: John E. Randall, Gerald R. Allen, Roger C. Steene, Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, 2nd Edition, 1997. Published by Crawford House Publishing Pty Ltd. p.411.

R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.407.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Valenciennea+decora. Accessed 12/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Valenciennea-decora.html. Accessed 12/07/18.