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.
Schismatogobius is a genus of fish in the subfamily Gobionellinae. They are native to southern and eastern Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Adults dwell in freshwater habitat such as streams and rivers, where they live along the sand and gravel substrates.
Acentrogobius is a genus of gobies native to marine, fresh and brackish waters of the coasts of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
Lentipes is a genus of gobies native to fresh, marine and brackish waters of the Malay Archipelago and islands in the Pacific. Its species are typically from fast-flowing streams and some are anadromous.
Melanotaenia is a genus of rainbowfish from Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, and nearby smaller islands.
Mogurnda is a genus of freshwater fishes in the family Eleotridae native to eastern and northern Australia and New Guinea. Several species are endemic to Lake Kutubu in Papua New Guinea.
Mugilogobius is a genus of fish in the family Gobiidae. They are found in fresh, brackish and marine water of the Indo-Pacific region. Several of the freshwater species have highly restricted distributions.
Pseudomugil is a genus of fish in the subfamily Pseudomugilinae endemic to Australia and New Guinea, where they are found in freshwater rivers and streams and bodies of brackish water.
Sicyopterus is a genus of gobies native fresh waters from Madagascar to the Pacific islands.
Stenogobius is a genus of fish in the goby subfamily, Gobionellinae. They are native to fresh, brackish and marine waters along the coasts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are known commonly as coastal stream gobies.
Cavefish or cave fish is a generic term for fresh and brackish water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Related terms are subterranean fish, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreatic fish and hypogean fish.
The marble goby is a widely distributed species of fish in the family Butidae native to fresh and brackish waters of the Mekong and Chao Praya basins, as well as rivers and other water bodies in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indochina, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It is among the largest gobioid fish, reaching a length of 65 cm (26 in), though most do not exceed 30 cm (12 in).
Brachirus is a genus of small and medium-sized soles. Most are native to marine and brackish waters in the Indo-Pacific, but several species can also be seen freshwater in southern Asia, Eastern Africa, New Guinea and Australia.
Glossamia is a genus of freshwater fish in the family Apogonidae. The majority of the species are endemic to New Guinea, but G. aprion is also found in Australia.
Allomogurnda is a genus of fishes in the family Eleotridae native to freshwater habitats of New Guinea and surrounding smaller islands.
Oxyurichthys is a genus of fish in the subfamily Gobionellinae, known commonly as arrowfin gobies. They are distributed in the tropical and subtropical Indian and Pacific Oceans; one species is also known from the western Atlantic Ocean. Most species live in shallow waters under 10 meters deep over fine substrates such as silt.
Ptereleotris is a genus of dartfishes found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.
Bostrychus microphthalmus is a species of fish from the family Butidae. It is endemic to Maros karst in southern Sulawesi, Indonesia. It was the first documented cave-dwelling fish in Sulawesi, but since then the brotula Diancistrus typhlops has been described from nearby Muna Island, and an additional apparently undescribed eleotrid is known from Sulawesi's Maros karst.
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.
