Taxonomy & naming
Awaous maculatus was described by Philippe Keith, Marion I. Mennesson and Nicolas Hubert in 2026, within a larger multi-author paper — Keith, Mennesson, Sauri, Busson, Limmon, Nurjirana, Sukmono, Dahruddin and Hubert — reviewing Indonesian Awaous and describing one new species, published in Cybium. That review used partial COI sequencing (654 bp) together with morphological comparison — including the presence or absence of a white-edged black spot at the rear base of the first dorsal fin, predorsal and lateral-line scale counts, and scale coverage on the prepelvic area and pectoral-fin base — to recognise three Awaous species from Indonesian waters, one of them new. The Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, CAS) lists Awaous maculatus Keith, Mennesson & Hubert, 2026 as valid, in family Oxudercidae, subfamily Gobionellinae; only these three of the paper's nine co-authors are credited with authorship of the new species name.
The holotype (MNHN-IC 2023-0324, formerly catalogued as MNHN-IC 2018-0540, held at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris) was collected from the Ovana River on Ranongga, in the Solomon Islands — outside Indonesia proper, reflecting that the revision drew on comparative material from across the wider Indo-West Pacific even though its headline focus was the Indonesian Awaous fauna. Paratypes are held at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (Indonesia), the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and the Senckenberg Museum (Frankfurt).
The full type description sits behind the journal's paywall; this article reports the taxonomic and locality facts recorded in the Catalog of Fishes and paper abstract, and does not assert species-specific character values beyond what those sources state.
Morphology
No maximum size, meristic counts, or full colour description specific to Awaous maculatus were available in the sources consulted for this article; only the Catalog of Fishes type record and the paper's abstract could be reviewed. The species epithet maculatus is Latin for 'spotted' or 'marked', which presumably references a spotted body pattern, though the paper's own description of that pattern was not accessible to confirm.
At the genus level, Awaous species share a moderately elongate, somewhat robust body, a broad head with thick lips associated with a scraping feeding mode, two separated dorsal fins, and pelvic fins fused into a sucker disc, the defining character of the true gobies (Oxudercidae). The Indonesian-focused revision that recognised A. maculatus distinguished the region's three Awaous species using COI genetic divergence together with predorsal and lateral-line scale counts, scale presence on the prepelvic area and pectoral-fin base, and the presence or absence of the dorsal-fin spot — but this article does not assert which specific states were recorded for A. maculatus without the full text.
Habitat
Awaous maculatus has, per the Catalog of Fishes distribution record, one of the broadest ranges recognised among the newly described Awaous: Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia (Lombok, Flores, Timor, Ambon, Sulawesi, Sumbawa), Papua New Guinea (West New Britain), the Solomon Islands, and northern Australia. The type series itself was collected from the Ovana River on Ranongga in the Solomon Islands. The Catalog of Fishes lists the species' habitat as freshwater, brackish, and marine, the standard classification for Awaous and consistent with an amphidromous life history that carries larvae through the open ocean between island river systems across this wide range.
No further habitat detail — substrate, elevation, or river-specific data beyond the type locality — is available in the accessible sources. Other Awaous across this Indo-West-Pacific range typically occupy clear, flowing streams with rock, gravel or sand substrate; whether A. maculatus follows this pattern in each part of its range is a genus-level expectation, not a documented fact specific to the species.
Feeding
No feeding data specific to Awaous maculatus has been published in the sources accessible here. As in other Awaous, the thickened lips and jaw structure typical of the genus are associated with grazing algae, biofilm and detritus from hard substrate, supplemented with small invertebrates. This is offered only as a genus-level expectation for A. maculatus, not a confirmed observation.
Mating
No mating behaviour has been documented for Awaous maculatus. Amphidromy is the standard life history across Awaous and the subfamily Gobionellinae, typically with males defending a spawning site that a female is courted into. Whether A. maculatus follows this pattern across its wide island range is a genus-level expectation only, not a species-specific finding.
Breeding
No breeding record exists for Awaous maculatus. In other Awaous, the female deposits adhesive eggs on a rock or cleaned hard surface within the male's chosen spawning site, and the male guards and fans the clutch until hatching; larvae then drift to sea for a planktonic development period — plausibly a lengthy one, given the wide, island-hopping distribution attributed to this species — before post-larvae recruit back into fresh and brackish water. This pattern is offered here as a genus-level expectation for A. maculatus, not a documented observation. There is no captive-breeding record for a species described in 2026 from wild-collected type material.
In the aquarium
Awaous maculatus has no history in the aquarium trade; it was described in 2026 from specimens collected for taxonomic study, with no record of export or commercial availability. Any future aquarium care would, by extension from the genus, likely require a large freshwater-to-brackish tank with strong filtration, high dissolved oxygen, a secure lid, and access to algae or biofilm for grazing — a genus-level extrapolation from other Awaous, not documented husbandry for this species. The amphidromous life cycle typical of the genus would make captive breeding unlikely to be achievable even if the species were eventually kept.
Conservation
Awaous maculatus has not been evaluated by the IUCN Red List, having been described in 2026. No population size, trend, or threat data specific to the species is available. Given the very wide Western Pacific range attributed to it by the Catalog of Fishes — spanning Japan to northern Australia — the species may prove less range-restricted than some other Awaous, but this is speculation rather than an assessed conclusion. As with other amphidromous gobies, connectivity between river and marine habitat across its many island populations is likely to matter most for its long-term status; no documentation ties any specific pressure to A. maculatus.