A new species of Diplecogaster (Actinopterygii: Gobiesocidae) from the Mediterranean Sea

Diplecogaster umutturali sp. n. is described from five specimens, ranging from 9.5 to 26.9 mm in standard length. This clingfish is known to occur only at three localities along the northern Levant coasts, eastern Mediterranean Sea and is the third known species of the genus Diplecogaster in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The species is distinguished from all its congeners in having a small snout, short caudal peduncle, large eyes, short anal fin and upper attachment of gill membrane opposite the 7th-8th pectoral ray. Diplecogaster umutturali sp. n. shows a 5.3% genetic divergence from its close relative D. bimaculata at the cytochrome oxidase I locus (COI).