Beautiful Cheek Shrimpgoby

Description: small elongate fish, body and head moderately compressed; mouth large, gape oblique, jaws nearly equal anteriorly; upper lip broad as lower; gill opening extending forward ventrally to vertically below point approximately one-third of way from hind margin of orbit to posterior margin of operculum; 69-75 rows of scales in lateral series from dorsal angle of branchial opening to base of caudal fin, latter with an additional 3-4 rows basally; 21-25 transverse scale series, counted forward and upward from first anal spine to approximately below sixth dorsal spine; 19-23 scales in a zigzag series around narrowest part of caudal peduncle ; gill rakers on lower limb of first arch, including elongate raker at angle, 9 or 10 (Ref. 26237).

Dorsal spines (total): 7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12; Analspines: 1; Analsoft rays: 12 - 13

Collected from sandy reef slope at a depth of 26 m. Associated with burrowing alpheid prawns (Ref. 26237).