Marine National Park Headquarters (MNPH) researcher, Liao Cheng-Heng, found a 3.2cm Gobiidae on the shore mud beach in water of only 2 cm deep during his fish survey mission inside the Dongsha Island lagoon. This fish has very rare skin patterning; therefore, he brought the fish back to the Wildlife Conservation Center Dongsha Station for further observation. Professor Chen Cheng-Ping and his team from the Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI) were engaged to identify the fish. Preliminary identification indicated that the fish is a subspecies of Favonigobius (Favonigobius sp.) and a new species not yet announced in the world.

Favonigobius fish are characterized by high agility; therefore, they are spotted less during sampling missions. This fish has similar characteristics to Bathygobius and Papillogobius, but close observation reveals a black spot on the rear end of its first gill, as well as dense Chromatophores distribution in the pelvic and anal fins. These characteristics are unique from fish of the above two genus. In 2005, Professor Chen Cheng-Ping and his team also spotted this fish at the mouth of a lagoon during a fish survey in the peripheral area of Dongsha, but they were not fortunately enough to obtain photos of live specimens and the number of samples was insufficient to make an official announcement of this new species. The last appearance of this fish was eight years ago. This shows the rareness of the  species

.The lagoon area of Dongsha Island is formed by silt mud; therefore, the surveyors often stir up turbid water when they step down to get a foothold during sample collection. This turbidity makes it very difficult to catch any highly agile fish, and therefore the lagoon area hides quite a number of undiscovered species. Several new species discovered in recent years, including the Papillogobius reichei announced earlier, have been found in the lagoon of Dongsha Island. Up to now, this new Favonigobius species has only been spotted twice in the Dongsha Atoll waters. It is indeed precious. The Dongsha Island Station of MNPH will continue to track and document the population of Favonigobius, moving towards the goal of official announcement of this new species. This new species will give the high biodiversity of Dongsha Atoll National Park another precious member and showcase Taiwan's achievements in advanced  marine conservation research to international society.