Common names:

* proposed name

Synonyms:

Etymology:
'Periophthalmus' is a compound name from the Greek 'peri' (around), and 'ophthalmôn' (eye), which refers to the wide visual field of these species

the specific name is after Ed Murdy, author of the most recent systematic revision of oxudercine gobies (Larson & Takita, 2004)

Maximum recorded length:
47.5 mm SL (Larson & Takita, 2004)

Live colouration (Larson & Takita, 2004, pers. obs.: Australia NT, Papua New Guinea):
background colour light brown to greyish on head, dorsum and flankes, ventrally whitish; head with dark brown streaks and mottling on dorsum; 7-8 dorsal dark brown saddle-like diagonal bars on dorsum, usually well evident; blotches between bars may be present; sky blue iridescent speckles, and/or short vertical stripes on sides of head and body; small reddish brown speckles may also be visible on head and flanks. D1 membrane brown, basally paler, and a transparent margin; a darker submarginal band may be present; D2 transparent with a proximal series of dark brown spots or streaks, an inframarginal dark brown stripe and a transparent margin; caudal fin dusky, with series of dark speckles along rays, proximally darker; anal fin hyaline, pigmented along rays in some specimens; pelvic fins whitish ventrally, dorsally brownish; pectoral fins hyaline with brownish rays.
Males are darker than females, with more heavily pigmented anal and pelvic fins

Colouration on preservation (Larson & Takita, 2004; pers. obs.):
ground colour dorsally and laterally grey to brown, ventrally paler; dark dorsal banded pattern and blotches usually visible; D1 brown with a darker submarginal band and a white or transparent margin; D2 transparent with a proximal series of brown spots or streaks, a brown inframarginal stripe and a transparent margin; caudal fin dusky with series of dark speckles on rays; pectoral fins dusky; pelvic and anal fins frequently pigmented between fin rays: pelvic fins darker on the dorsal side.
Males darker than females, with more heavily pigmented anal and pelvic fins

Diagnosis (Larson & Takita, 2004):
total D2 elements 12-14; total anal fin elements 11-13; pectoral fin rays 12-15; longitudinal scale count 71-112; predorsal scales 24-32; pelvic fins united for more than half their length, with a distinct frenum, and tips rounded; D1 of moderate height (depressed D1 length 13.0-25.6% of SL), spines IX-XIV; colouration traits of D1, D2, anal and pelvic fins.
The genus is yet undefined by synapomorphies

Diet:
no published study is available

Reproduction:
no published study is available

Ecological notes (pers. obs.: Australia NT, Papua New Guinea):
locally very abundant in the low intertidal zone, along mud banks of tidal creeks and inlets, never far from the water edge, where it feeds. It can be found in almost pure fresh water in tidally influenced rivers

left: bank of a large river: here P. murdyi was found on the exposed mud, nearby water (Adelaide river, Northern Territory, Australia)

right: mud banks of a tidal creek. Also here P. murdyi was always found nearby the water edge (Purutu Is., Fly river delta, Papua New Guinea)

(photos, left: G. Polgar, 2007; right: A. Sacchetti, 2007, with permission)

Distribution (Larson & Takita, 2004):
recorded from northern Australia; found also in the Fly river delta, Papua New Guinea (pers. obs.); type locality: Adelaide river, Australia, NT

Photographs of Periophthalmus murdyi:

A: paratypes of P. murdyi (NTM-S-11193-004): female (above) and male (below) (photo: G. Polgar, MAGNT, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, 2007); B, C; E, F: specimens nearby a small mudflat at low tide (photos: G. Polgar, Purutu Is., Fly river delta, Papua New Guinea, 2007); D: dorsal fins of P. murdyi (photo: A. Sacchetti, Purutu Is., Fly river delta, Papua New Guinea, 2007)*; G: a specimen feeding in very shallow water at ebb tide (photo: G. Polgar, Purutu Is., Fly river delta, Papua New Guinea, 2007); H, I: a female in aquarium (collected in the Adelaide river, Northern Territory, Australia; photo: G. Polgar, 2007); J: a specimen in a plastic bag (collected in Purutu Is., Fly river delta, Papua New Guinea; photo: G. Polgar, 2007) - * with permission

Drawings of Periophthalmus murdyi:

left: cephalic sensory and nasal pores of Periophthalmus spp.: an= anterior nostril; pn= posterior nostril (modified from Murdy, 1989)* - * with permission