Schindleria brevipinguis

Schindleria brevipinguis is a species of marine fish in family Schindleriidae of Perciformes. Known as the stout infantfish, it is native to Australia's Great Barrier Reef and to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea.

S. brevipinguis is the smallest known fish and vertebrate. The species grows to a maximum total length of 8.4 mm (about one-third inch), with males being mature at a length of 7 mm (just over one-quarter inch). It is distinguished from the similar S. praematura by having its first anal-fin ray further forward, under dorsal-fin 4, rather than 7–11 in S. praematura.

The specific epithet, brevipinguis, derives from the Latin brevis (short) and pinguis (stout), in reference to the fish's shorter, thicker body, as compared with other Schindleria species.

The first specimen was collected by Jeff Leis in 1979, but the species was not formally described until a 2004 paper (Watson and Walker).

The discovery of S. brevipinguis relegated to second place the previous smallest known vertebrate, Trimmatom nanus, a dwarf goby of the western Indian Ocean.

Reference

• McGrouther, M., J. Leis, T. Trnski. "Stout Infantfish, Schindleria brevipinguis". Fishes: Australian Museum Fish Site. July 2004.
• Watson, William, and H. J. Walker, Jr. "The World's Smallest Vertebrate, Schindleria brevipinguis, a New Paedomorphic Species in the Family Schindleriidae (Perciformes: Gobioidei)". Records of the Australian Museum 56: 139-142. On-line version (PDF format).