Recognition of the girdled shrimpgoby, Myersina yangii (Actinopterygii, Gobiiformes, Gobiidae), from Taiwan, with notes on male color pattern and discovery of the species in Malaysia

Myersina yangii (Chen, 1960), previously recorded from Taiwan (type locality), the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and India, is recorded from Malaysia for the first time, a single male specimen having been collected from the Malacca Strait, off Perak, western Peninsular Malaysia. Although recent studies have regarded a transverse black band on the mid-lateral body as a diagnostic feature of the species, the original description of M. yangii ascribed that character only to females.

Accordingly, M. yangii, considered extinct in Taiwan, although recently collected (in 2019) and reported as an unidentified species of Myersina, is here recognized as extant in that region. Two male specimens, collected from Malaysia and Taiwan, enabled descriptions of the fresh color pattern of the species for the first time, together with several minor intraspecific variations: 10 anal-fin soft rays (usually 11) and a single black blotch on the first dorsal-fin fourth or fifth spine (at least in males).

The likelihood of a small-scale patch on the chest (when undamaged) was noted in the Taiwan specimen.