First and recurrent records of Stiphodon surrufus Watson & Kottelat, 1995 (Gobiiformes, Gobiidae, Sicydiinae), a naturally rare amphidromous goby, in Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Stiphodon surrufus Watson & Kottelat, 1995, with its recent synonym S. birdsong Watson, 1996, is recorded from widely separated locations in the Western Pacific, including Papua and Halmahera in eastern Indonesia. We collected a single specimen of male S. surrufus from the Bohi River, Banggai District, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia in 2019; this represents the first record of S. surrufus from Sulawesi, the largest island in the Wallacea biodiversity hotspot. Three additional specimens were collected in 2020, one in 2021, and two in 2022, all from the same site. These records expand the known distribution of a naturally rare but widespread sicydiine goby and contribute to the underexplored but increasingly threatened Sulawesian riverine ichthyofauna.