Common Name: Immaculate Glidergoby

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Recorded from the western Pacific region: including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines and also Tonga. In Australia has been recorded from Shark Bay in Western Australia through the tropical north, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland and as far south as Sydney on the east coast of New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents areas of fine, silty or muddy bottoms. Digs a burrow to which it retreats if threatened. Depth 1 – 30 m.

Additional Notes: Two blue edged gold stripes from snout to tail. Usually found in pairs, it sifts large mouthfulls of sand filtering out food organisms. Juvenile approximately 50 mm pictured. Grows to around 13 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.408.

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

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