A ulopareia caerulostellata , a new gobiid species ( T eleostei: G obiidae) from the S trait of M alacca

Abstract Aulopareia caerulostellata sp. nov. (Teleostei: Gobiidae) is described based on 21 specimens (32.3–70.2 mm SL) collected from the Strait of Malacca near Penang Island, Malaysia. Aulopareia caerulostellata is described by the following combination of characters: second dorsal fin I,10; anal fin I,9; pectoral fin rays 17–18; segmented caudal fin 16, in 9/7 pattern; lateral scales 28–30; transverse scale counts backward (TRB) usually 9–10; predorsal scales 0–6; cheek and opercle naked; 3–5 irregular rows of rounded bluish spots on lateral side above midline, less aligned in females and juveniles. Aulopareia caerulostellata is mostly similar to its sympatric congener Aulopareia cyanomos (Bleeker 1849). However, A. caerulostellata can be distinguished from the latter by six or less predorsal scales (versus 10 or more), 3–5 irregular rows of iridescent bluish spots along side (versus 6–8 longitudinal rows of spots), spots never overlapped with brown blotches along midline (versus occasionally overlapped). The minimum cytochrome oxidase subunit I‐based genetic distance between the two species is 11.8%.