| Loach goby | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Gobiiformes |
| Family: | Rhyacichthyidae |
| Genus: | Rhyacichthys |
| Species: | R. aspro |
| Binomial name | |
| Rhyacichthys aspro (Valenciennes, 1837) | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
Platyptera asproValenciennes, 1837 | |
The loach goby, Rhyacichthys aspro, is a goby belonging to the family Rhyacichthyidae. It is not fished commercially.
The loach goby is one of the two species classified under the genus Rhyacichthys in the family Rhyacichthyidae.
Thacker and Hardman's study of the molecular phylogeny of gobies indicates the loach goby is the most primitive member of the Gobioidei. [3]
The loach goby is 25–32 centimetres (9.8–12.6 in) long. It has eight dorsal spines, eight or 9 soft dorsal rays, one anal spine, and eight or 9 anal rays. The head is flattened vertically, with a snout and small eyes. The mouth is on the underside and has a fleshy upper lip. The body is laterally compressed toward the slightly forked tail; it has a well-developed lateral line system. The pelvic fins are separate, with enlarged musculature. In colour, it is light brown, with darker, longitudinal stripes on its flanks. Also, dark stripes occur on the dorsal, caudal, and pectoral fins. [2]
The loach goby lives in tropical waters between 24°N and 13°S, ranging from China and south Japan, through the Philippines and Indonesia, to New Guinea and the Solomons. It inhabits fast-flowing streams in mountainous terrain. [1] [2]
The loach goby normally clings to rocks in fast-flowing streams, using the rocks as hiding places when threatened. It makes swift darting movements. It eats the algae growing on the rock surfaces. [2]
The slimy sculpin is a freshwater species of fish belonging to the family Cottidae, which is the largest sculpin family. They usually inhabit cold rocky streams or lakes across North America, ranging from the Great Lakes, southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa, southwest Wisconsin and northeast Canada. Slimy sculpins have also been found roaming the cold streams of eastern Siberia. They are commonly confused with their closely related relatives, Mottled sculpin, and with tubenose gobies who are both freshwater fishes as well. The slimy sculpin is a nocturnal fish that usually spends most of its time on the stream bottom and seeks shelter under rocks and logs, especially during spawning season. When it swims, it sometimes appears to be "hopping" along the bottom because of its inefficient ability to swim. This is partly due to the absence of a swim bladder, which normally gives buoyancy to a fish.
The sand goby, also known as a polewig or pollybait, is a species of ray-finned fish native to marine and brackish waters European waters from the Baltic Sea through the Mediterranean Sea and into the Black Sea where it occurs in sandy or muddy areas of inshore waters at depths of from 4 to 200 metres. This species can reach a length of 11 centimetres (4.3 in) TL. This species is sometimes kept in public aquariums. The sand goby is of a sandy colour, with darker markings on the sides and a creamy-white underside. In the breeding season the male fish has blue spot at the rear of the first dorsal fin, ringed with white. The fish has a slender body, and the head is about a quarter of the total length.
The stone loach is a European species of fresh water ray-finned fish in the family Nemacheilidae. It is one of nineteen species in the genus Barbatula. Stone loaches live amongst the gravel and stones of fast flowing water where they can search for food. The most distinctive feature of this small fish is the presence of barbels around the bottom jaw, which they use to detect their invertebrate prey. The body is a mixture of brown, green and yellow.
The Fortescue grunter is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It is endemic to rivers in Western Australia.
Sicyopterus lagocephalus, the red-tailed goby or blue stream goby, is a species of goby native to islands of the Indian Ocean from the Comoros to the Mascarene Islands to the Pacific Ocean where it reaches French Polynesia and can be found as far north as Japan. It is an amphidromous species: adults can be found in swift-flowing streams with rocky beds but the eggs hatch at sea and the larval stage remains in marine waters, migrating to freshwaters when they reach the postlarval stage. This species can reach a total length of 13 cm (5 in). In some places it is an important species for local consumption with the post-larvae being caught as they mass in estuaries.
The Rhyacichthyidae or loach gobies are a small family of perciform fish in two genera. The three species all inhabit rivers and streams, often with fast flow. R. aspro is widespread in Western Pacific region, but the two remaining species are restricted to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Little is known about their breeding behavior, but the eggs or larvae float down into the sea where the young grow up, only to later return to the adult river and stream habitat. They are fairly small fish, no more than 25 cm (10 in) in standard length.
The yellow rasbora is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Rasbora from Southeast Asia. It is a primarily freshwater fish originally from Java island in Indonesia. It is known as the Wader pari fish in the Indonesian language. In addition, it was a protein source for the local community during the old days.
The redeye barb or Beira barb, is a widespread African species of freshwater cyprinid fish which is found from Uganda south to the Limpopo River and Incomati River systems in South Africa.
Gyrinocheilus aymonieri is a freshwater fish native to large parts of Southeast Asia. It is of interest as a local food source and for the aquarium trade. Its common names include honey sucker, sucking loach, Chinese algae eater, and Siamese algae eater; the FAO-endorsed common name is Siamese algae eater.
The sooty grunter, also known by the name black bream, blubberlips, Northern grunter or purple grunter, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It inhabits coastal and inland freshwater creeks and rivers of northern Australia.
The black scorpionfish is a venomous scorpionfish, common in marine subtropical waters. It is widespread in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean from the British Isles to the Azores and Canary Islands, near the coasts of Morocco, in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.
Elacatinus chancei, the shortstripe goby, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Gobiidae. It lives inside or on the surface of a sponge and occurs in tropical waters in the west central Atlantic Ocean, the Bahamas, the Antilles, and Venezuela.
Rhyacichthys is a genus of fish belonging to the family Rhyacichthyidae. They occur in the Indo-Pacific region.
Rhyacichthys guilberti is a goby belonging to the family Rhyacichthyidae. This fish only occurs in the Northern Province of New Caledonia and in Vanuatu. It is found in only two rivers. Its maximum standard length of about 240 mm. Its population on New Caledonia was estimated at less than 400 individuals, but it is now thought to have been extirpated from that island, it remains common on Vanuatu.
The Christmas darter i is a species of ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae which includes the perches, ruffes and pike-perches. It is found in the Savannah, Ogeechee and Altamaha catchment areas in South Carolina and Georgia. It is a small but colorful fish, typically less than 5 cm (2 in) in total length, with blackish, red and green streaks on its flanks. Green and red are associated with Christmas, hence the common name Christmas darter. Like other darters, it lives on or close to the stream-bed, in riffles and vegetation-laden stretches of small rivers, creeks and spring-fed streams. It feeds on aquatic insects and probably breeds in the spring, but its biology and behavior are poorly known.
The Savannah darter is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the eastern United States, where it occurs in the Edisto, Combahee, Broad and Savannah River drainages in South Carolina and Georgia. It inhabits gravel riffles, gravel and sand runs of creeks and small rivers. This species can reach a length of 7.4 cm (2.9 in).
Synocrossus beauforti, the barred loach,chameleon loach or chameleon botia, is a species of freshwater fish from the loach family Botiidae which is found in mainland south-east Asia.
Papuligobius uniporus is a species of small goby in the subfamily Gobionellinae. It is also the type species of the genus Papuligobius.
Protogobius attiti is a species of loach goby which is endemic to nine rivers in South Province, New Caledonia. It occurs in rivers with ultramafic beds. It prefers areas where there is a gravel substrate under overhanging vegetation in slower reaches of fast flowing, clear streams. The rocks and gravel in the areas in which it occurs are usually coated with detritus. When threatened it buries itself in the gravel leaving its eyes, mouth and first dorsal fin above the substrate. Its main prey is small freshwater crustaceans, especially the abundant transparent shrimp which occur in these streams. It is threatened by nickel mining which creates sediments which blanker the rocks on which it hides and destroys the algae its prey feed on. The specific name honours a Melanesian chief of Goro, New Caledonia.
Pseudogobiopsis oligactis, the bigmouth stream goby, is a species of goby from the subfamily Gobionellinae of the family Oxudercidae which is widespread in southern Asia.
