A review of the gobiid fish genus Trimma from the Chagos Archipelago, central Indian Ocean, with the description of seven new species

The genus Trimma contains 17 nominal and 13 valid species. Five of these are here reported from the Chagos Archipelago: T. eviotops, T. macrophthalma, T. mendelssohni. T. nauclei, and T. taylori. An additional 7 species arc described as new and another is described but not named, for a total of 13 species known from these islands. The biogeographic affinities of Chagos species of Trimma appear to lie with the western Indian Ocean rather than the western Pacific, but the evidence is weak because of the lack of knowledge of the Pacific Trimma fauna.