First record of Favonigobius gymnauchen (Bleeker, 1860) (Teleostei: Gobiidae) in the north-western Indian Ocean: Evidence for potential taxonomic diversity

A single specimen of Favonigobius gymnauchen was captured from the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf, north-western Indian Ocean. Species identification was performed based on sequence analysis of the mitochondrial COI barcode region. This significant record from the northern Persian Gulf, adds a new species to the gobiid fauna of the north-western Indian Ocean and represents the easternmost documentation of the species. The presence of a deep phylogeographic break between the Indian Ocean and the West Pacific groups of haplotypes suggests the potential existence of hidden taxonomic diversity, hereby highlighting the necessity of a comprehensive morphological and molecular analysis of the sharp-nosed sand gobies from the two oceans.