melanosticta, Gobius Day [F.] 1876:290, Pl. 63 (fig. 2) [The fishes of India Part 2; ref. 1081] Backwaters of Madras, India. Lectotype: MNHN A.0018. Parelectotypes and/or Day specimens: AMS B.8202 (1, syntype); BMNH 1889.2.1.3388-3397 (11); MZUF 4704 (1); NMW 84081.1 (1); RMNH 1886 (1); ZSI 187 (1, figured specimen, lost), 291-220 (2, lost). Type catalog: Whitehead & Talwar 1976:162 [ref. 23762], Bauchot et al. 1991:36 [ref. 19958], Ferraris et al. 2000:299 [ref. 25110]. Reasons for loss of ZSI type specimens during WWII see Chopra 1947:349-350 [ref. 33077]. Lectotype selected by Larson & Hammer 2021:52 [ref. 38276]. •Synonym of Stigmatogobius javanicus (Bleeker 1856) -- (Talwar & Jhingran 1991:947 [ref. 20764]). •Synonym of Pseudogobius gastrospilostus (Bleeker 1853) -- (Huang et al. 2013:95 [ref. 33734]). •Valid as Pseudogobius melanosticta (Day 1876) (often seen as melanostictus) -- (Larson in Randall & Lim 2000:640 [ref. 25122], Larson 2001:203 [ref. 25522], Larson & Murdy 2001:3601 [ref. 26293], Larson et al. 2008:144 [ref. 29532], Chen et al. 2013:130 [ref. 33159], Kottelat 2013:422 [ref. 32989], Chen et al. 2014:130 [ref. 33159], Larson & Hammer 2021:47 [ref. 38276], Taki et al. 2021:455 [ref. 39830], Furuhashi & Motomura 2023:1 [ref. 40838], Jamandre 2023:169 [ref. 40455]). Current status: Valid as Pseudogobius melanosticta (Day 1876). Gobiidae: Gobionellinae. Distribution: Indo-West Pacific: India east to Vanuatu, north to Ryukyu Islands (Japan), south to northern Australia and New Caledonia. Habitat: brackish.