Photo: Pomatoschistus nanus photographed at Mistra on 31 May 2022 (Photo credit: Mark-Anthony Falzon)

First described in 2017, Pomatoschistus nanus Engin & Seyhan, 2017 is a species in the family Gobiidae (gobies). It is one of the smallest known species of fish in the Mediterranean, and was thought to be limited to the Turkish Levant and Turkish Aegean coasts. In May 2022, a population was discovered by Mark-Anthony Falzon in shallow water (3m) at Mistra. The fish were identified from in situ observations and photographs and eventually DNA analysis. Pomatoschistus nanus is the newest species of fish recorded in Malta. The Mistra records also add substantially to the knowledge of the morphology and the depth and geographical ranges of the species.

The results have just been published in Cybium, and include the Mistra records as well as new material from Cyprus. The work involves the collaboration of Marcelo Kovačić (Natural History Museum Rijeka, Croatia), Radek Šanda (National Museum of the Czech Republic), Jasna Vukić (Charles University, Czech Republic), Julien P Renoult (University of Montpellier) and Mark-Anthony Falzon (University of Malta).