Image source: Jo's Animal Database
Northwest Pacific: southern Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Max length : 8 cm TL Dorsal spines (total): 7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-11; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 9 - 10; Vertebrae: 26. Upper pectoral fin rays entire. Predorsal cycloid scales 10-13; ctenoid on trunk. Body dusky brown with red spots; 4 blue spots on operculum; black line running from eye along sensory pore path to pectoral base; 2 dusky blotches on pectoral base, the uppermost spreading onto fin rays; large inverted U-shaped blotch on the cheek. In male, appressed anal fin occasionally reaching caudal fin, appressed dorsal reaching or overlapping caudal fin. Appressed anal and dorsal fins of female ending 2-3 and 1-2 scales, respectively, of caudal fin. Common in sandy bottoms of shallow waters. Also observed to live solitarily or in small schools near crevices or under stones. Occurs at 21.5 °C.
