Caspian stellate tadpole-goby explained

The Caspian stellate tadpole-goby (Benthophilus leobergius), also known as the starry goby,^[1] is a species of gobiid fish endemic to the Caspian Sea basin. It is widespread along all coasts of the Caspian Sea with exception of the central-eastern, and in the lowest part of the Volga River. In the southern part of the basin, it is mentioned near the Ogurja Ada, in the Gorgansky Bay, and in the Sefīd-Rūd River.^[2] This species can reach a length of 10cm (00inches) SL.

The fish was named by Boris Ilyin after the ichthyologist and geographer Leo S. Berg, and properly taxonomically described by Berg himself the same year, then as a subspecies of Benthophilus stellatus (i.e. B. stellatus leobergius).^[3] The specific name is a latinisation of Berg's name.^[4]

Notes and References

1. PIRI HOSSEIN, ENAYAT G. TAYEBE (2013) STUDY ON SOME BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STARRY GOBY (BENTHOPHILUS STELLATUS LEOBERGIUS BERG 1949) IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE CASPIAN SEA (GUILAN PROVINCE) JOURNAL OF SCIENCE (KHARAZMI UNIVERSITY) 13, 713-716.
2. Boldyrev V.S., Bogutskaya N.G. (2007) Revision of the tadpole-gobie of the genus Benthophilus (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, 18(1): 31-96.http://www.pfeil-verlag.de/04biol/pdf/ief18_1_04.pdf
3. http://www.sevin.ru/vertebrates/index.html?Fishes/228.html B. stellatus (Sauvage, 1874) - звездчатая пуголовка
4. Web site: Order GOBIIFORMES: Family GOBIIDAE (a-c) . 17 August 2018 . Christopher Scharpf . Kenneth J. Lazara . The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database . Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara . 29 May 2018.