A flatfish is a member of the ray-finned demersal fish order Pleuronectiformes, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through or around the head during development. Some species face their left sides upward, some face their right sides upward, and others face either side upward.
Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than 10 cm (3.9 in) in length, and the family includes some of the smallest vertebrates in the world, such as Trimmatom nanus and Pandaka pygmaea, Trimmatom nanus are under 1 cm long when fully grown, then Pandaka pygmaea standard length are 9 mm (0.35 in), maximum known standard length are 11 mm (0.43 in). Some large gobies can reach over 30 cm (0.98 ft) in length, but that is exceptional. Generally, they are benthic or bottom-dwellers. Although few are important as food fish for humans, they are of great significance as prey species for other commercially important fish such as cod, haddock, sea bass and flatfish. Several gobiids are also of interest as aquarium fish, such as the dartfish of the genus Ptereleotris. Phylogenetic relationships of gobiids have been studied using molecular data.
The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. A number of species pairs occur in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, members of the huge genus Chaetodon.
The Asiatic glassfishes are a family, the Ambassidae, of freshwater and marine fishes that were formerly classified in the order Perciformes, but most authorities consider this order to be paraphyletic and that the Ambassidae are of uncertain affinities, incertae sedis, but within the subseries Ovalentaria. The species in the family are native to Asia, Oceania, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific Ocean. The family includes eight genera and about 51 species.
Eleotridae is a family of fish commonly known as sleeper gobies, with about 34 genera and 180 species. Most species are found in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, but there are also species in subtropical and temperate regions, warmer parts of the Americas and near the Atlantic coast in Africa. While many eleotrids pass through a planktonic stage in the sea and some spend their entire lives in the sea; as adults, the majority live in freshwater streams and brackish water. One of its genera, Caecieleotris, is troglobitic. They are especially important as predators in the freshwater stream ecosystems on oceanic islands such as New Zealand and Hawaii that otherwise lack the predatory fish families typical of nearby continents, such as catfish. Anatomically, they are similar to the gobies (Gobiidae), though unlike the majority of gobies, they do not have a pelvic sucker.
The Microdesmidae, the wormfishes and dartfishes, were a family of goby-like fishes in the order Gobiiformes, more recent workers have placed this taxon within the Gobiidae, although the researchers do not define the taxonomic status of this grouping within that family. Two subfamilies in this family were briefly treated as full families - the Ptereleotrinae (dartfishes) and Microdesminae (wormfishes). The family includes about 82 species.
Dartfishes are a group of fish, formerly considered to be a subfamily, Ptereleotrinae, of goby-like fishes in the family Microdesmidae of the order Gobiiformes, Authorities now consider the species in the family Microdesmidae are within the Gobiidae, although the researchers do not define the taxonomic status of this grouping within that family. They are saltwater fish.
Aetobatus is a genus of eagle rays native to the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. It was formerly placed in Myliobatidae, but is now placed in its own family Aetobatidae based on salient differences from myliobatids, especially the pectoral fins joining the head at the level of the eyes.
Oligolepis is a genus of fish in the goby family Gobiidae, native to marine, fresh and brackish waters of the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
The Gobiiformes are an order of fish that includes the gobies and their relatives. The order, which was previously considered a suborder of Perciformes, is made up of about 2,211 species that are divided between seven families. Phylogenetic relationships of the Gobiiformes have been elucidated using molecular data. Gobiiforms are primarily small species that live in marine water, but roughly 10% of these species inhabit fresh water. This order is composed chiefly of benthic or burrowing species; like many other benthic fishes, most gobiiforms do not have a gas bladder or any other means of controlling their buoyancy in water, so they must spend most of their time on or near the bottom. Gobiiformes means "goby-like".
Schindleria praematura, Schindler's fish is a species of neotenic goby which was formerly placed in the monogeneric family Schindleriidae but which is currently classified within the Gobiidae. It is associated with reefs and has an Indo-Pacific distribution from South Africa and Madagascar to Hawaii and the sea mounts of the South Pacific. The generic name and the common name honour the German zoologist Otto Schindler (1906–1959) who described the species.
The Gobionellinae are a subfamily of fish which was formerly classified in the family Gobiidae, the gobies, but the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World classifies the subfamily as part of the family Oxudercidae. Members of Gobionellinae mostly inhabit estuarine and freshwater habitats; the main exception is the genus Gnatholepis, which live with corals in marine environments. The subfamily is distributed in tropical and temperate regions around the world with the exception of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Ponto-Caspian region. It includes around 370 species and 55 genera: Wikipedia articles about genera list about 389 species.
Oplopomus is a genus of gobies found in coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific region. It contains two species.
Grallenia is a genus of fish in the family Gobiidae native to the western Pacific Ocean.
Kraemeria is a genus of goby, formerly the type genus of the family Kraemeriidae, but now classified in the Gobiidae. The species in this genus are native to the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Oxymetopon is a genus of fish formerly classified in the family Microdesmidae but now classified in the Gobiidae. They are native to the western Pacific Ocean. They are sometimes called ribbon-gobies.
Butidae is a family of sleeper gobies in the order Gobiiformes. The family was formerly classified as a subfamily of the Eleotridae but the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World classifies it as a family in its own right. Molecular phylogenetic analyses have demonstrated that the Butidae are a sister clade to the clade containing the families Gobiidae and Gobionellidae and that the Eleotridae is a sister to both of these clades. This means that the Eloetridae as formerly classified was paraphyletic and that its subfamilies should be raised to the status of families.
Dotsugobius bleekeri, also known as the dark mangrovegoby, is a species of fish in the family Gobiidae known from brackish estuarine and the adjacent freshwater areas of the eastern Indian Ocean, Andaman Sea and Western Pacific. The generic name honours the Japanese ichthyologist Yoshie Dotsu, whose surname was spelled “Dôtu” in his earlier publications, of Nagasaki University while the specific name honours the Dutch ichthyologist, herpetologist and physician Pieter Bleeker (1819-1878) who was a significant worker on the fish fauna of the Dutch East Indies. This species is placed in the genus Lophogobius by some authorities.
Goby is a common name for many species of small to medium sized ray-finned fish, normally with large heads and tapered bodies, which are found in marine, brackish and freshwater environments. Traditionally most of the species called gobies have been classified in the order Perciformes as the suborder Gobioidei but in the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World this suborder is elevated to an order Gobiiformes within the clade Percomorpha. Not all the species in the Gobiiformes are referred to as gobies and the "true gobies" are placed in the family Gobiidae, while other species referred to as gobies have been placed in the Oxudercidae. Goby is also used to describe some species which are not classified within the order Gobiiformes, such as the engineer goby or convict blenny Pholidichthys leucotaenia. The word goby derives from the Latin gobius meaning "gudgeon", and some species of goby, especially the sleeper gobies in the family Eleotridae and some of the dartfishes are called "gudgeons", especially in Australia.
The kelp gunnel is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Pholidae, the gunnels. It is the only species in the monospecific genus Ulvicola. It is found in the eastern North Pacific Ocean.
