Knipowitschia

Knipowitschia Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Longtail dwarf goby (K. longecaudata), the type species of the genus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Gobiiformes
Family:	Oxudercidae
Subfamily:	Gobionellinae
Genus:	Knipowitschia Iljin, 1927
Type species
Gobius longecaudatus Kessler, 1877
Synonyms
BubyrIljin, 1930

Knipowitschia is a genus of marine, fresh and brackish water gobies native to Eurasia. The genus name almost certainly honours Nikolai Mikhailovich Knipovich (1862-1938), a biologist who led a number of expeditions to the Caspian Sea. ^[1]

Species

There are currently 12 recognized species in this genus: ^[2]

• Knipowitschia byblisia Ahnelt, 2011 (Byblis goby)
• Knipowitschia caucasica (L. S. Berg, 1916) (Caucasian dwarf goby)
• Knipowitschia caunosi Ahnelt, 2011 (Caunos goby)
• Knipowitschia iljini L. S. Berg, 1931
• Knipowitschia longecaudata (Kessler, 1877) (Longtail dwarf goby)
• Knipowitschia mermere Ahnelt, 1995
• Knipowitschia milleri (Ahnelt & Bianco, 1990) (Acheron spring goby)
• Knipowitschia montenegrina Kovačić & Šanda, 2007
• Knipowitschia panizzae (Verga, 1841) (Adriatic dwarf goby)
• Knipowitschia radovici Kovačić, 2005 (Norin goby)
• Knipowitschia ricasolii (Di Caporiacco, 1935)
• Knipowitschia thessala (Vinciguerra, 1921) (Thessaly goby)

The fossil species † Knipowitschia bulgarica Schwarzhans, Bradić & Bratishko, 2016 is known from fossil otoliths from the Middle Miocene of Bulgaria. ^[3]

Synonyms

• Knipowitschia cameliae Nalbant & Oţel, 1995; valid as K. caucasica (Danube delta dwarf goby)
• Knipowitschia croatica; valid as Orsinigobius croaticus (Neretva dwarf goby)
• Knipowitschia ephesi Ahnelt, 1995; valid as K. ricasolii
• Knipowitschia goerneri Ahnelt, 1991; valid as K. milleri (Corfu dwarf goby)
• Knipowitschia mrakovcici P. J. Miller, 2009; valid as K. panizzae
• Knipowitschia punctatissima; valid as Orsinigobius punctatissimus (Italian spring goby)

References

1. Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (17 January 2025). "Order GOBIIFORMES: Family OXUDERCIDAE (a-o)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Knipowitschia". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 28 September 2025.
3. Schwarzhans, Werner; Ahnelt, Harald; Carnevale, Giorgio; Japundžić, Sanja; Bradić, Katarina; Bratishko, Andriy (2017-03-01). "Otoliths in situ from Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) fishes of the Paratethys. Part III: tales from the cradle of the Ponto-Caspian gobies". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 136 (1): 45–92. doi: 10.1007/s13358-016-0120-7 . ISSN   1664-2384.