niger, Pyosicus Smith [J. L. B.] 1960:312, Fig. 13 [Ichthyological Bulletin, Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University No. 18; ref. 4126] Bizana coast, Pondoland, South Africa, southwestern Indian Ocean. Holotype (unique): SAIAB [formerly RUSI] 176. Secondarily preoccupied in Bathygobius by Gobius nigri Günther 1861; replaced by Bathygobius smithi -- (Fricke 1999:502 [ref. 24106]). Sugiyama et al. 2000:4 [ref. 24606] do not accept the need for the replacement name smithi as nigri Günther is not a Bathygobius. •Valid as Bathygobius niger (Smith 1960) -- (Hoese 1986:782 [ref. 5670], Miller & Smith 1989:315 [ref. 25535], Sugiyama et al. 2000:2 [ref. 24606], Nakabo 2000:1219 [ref. 25182], Miller & Stefanni 2001:151 [ref. 26034], Nakabo 2002:1219 [ref. 26193], Manilo & Bogorodsky 2003:S118 [ref. 27377], Parenti 2021:103 [ref. 38603], Larson 2022:52 [ref. 39971], Fricke et al. 2024:73 [ref. 41255]). Current status: Valid as Bathygobius niger (Smith 1960). Gobiidae: Gobiinae. Distribution: Indo-West Pacific: Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), western Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius), India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia, north to southern Japan. Habitat: marine.