| Philypnodon macrostomus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Gobiiformes |
| Family: | Eleotridae |
| Genus: | Philypnodon |
| Species: | P. macrostomus |
| Binomial name | |
| Philypnodon macrostomus | |
The dwarf flathead gudgeon (Philypnodon macrostomus) is a species of sleeper goby endemic to eastern Australia. [2] [3]
The existence of a second smaller species related to the flathead gudgeon ( Philypnodon grandiceps ) had been strongly suspected since 1980. P. macrostomus was described in 2006 by Douglass Fielding Hoese and Sally Reader; the type specimen was collected in Glenreagh, New South Wales. [4] Its species name derived from the Ancient Greek makro "large" and stoma "mouth". [3] Genetic analysis of the species from the different river drainages across its range showed that populations from the Lang Lang River in Victoria had diverged much earlier and most likely represent a separate, as yet undescribed species. [5]
Predominantly dark brown, the dwarf flathead gudgeon has paler brown or orange belly and reaches 5 cm (2 in) in length, [4] though more regularly is around 3.5 to 4 cm (1.4 to 1.6 in). [2] It has dark brown lips. It can be distinguished from the flathead gudgeon, which is larger, has a wider gill opening, and has vertical stripes on the sides of the belly. [4]
The dwarf flathead gudgeon is found in estuaries and freshwater rivers from Baffle Creek in central Queensland through New South Wales and eastern Victoria to Wilsons Promontory. Inland the range extends westward along the Murray River into South Australia. In the southern parts of its range, it is more restricted to estuarine habitats, and is found further upstream in more northerly river drainages. [5]
The dwarf flathead gudgeon is commonly found alongside its larger relative, [4] and often near some form of cover such as submerged vegetation or rocks. [5]
Carnivorous, the dwarf flathead gudgeon eats insects and minute crustaceans. [6]
The male guards the eggs after they are laid. The dwarf flathead gudgeon is mature by one year of age, though its longevity is unknown. [5]
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.
Collared wrigglers are perciform fishes in the family Xenisthmidae. They are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where they are mostly reef-dwelling.
Gudgeon is the common name for a number of small freshwater fish of the families Butidae, Cyprinidae, Eleotridae or Ptereleotridae. Most gudgeons are elongate, bottom-dwelling fish, many of which live in rapids and other fast moving water.
Galaxias olidus, the mountain galaxias, is a species of freshwater galaxiid fish widely found in southeastern Australia.
Butis butis, the crazy fish, duckbill sleeper, or upside-down sleeper, is a species of sleeper goby that are native to brackish and freshwater coastal habitats of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean from the African coast to the islands of Fiji. They prefer well-vegetated waters and can frequently be found in mangrove swamps. They are small, drably-colored fish, reaching a maximum length of only 15 cm (5.9 in). They are predatory and are known for their behavior of swimming vertically – or even upside down – while hunting.
Hypseleotris is a genus of fishes in the family Eleotridae. Most are from fresh water in Australia and New Guinea, but species in fresh and brackish water are found around islands in the western Indian Ocean, southern and eastern Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Pacific islands. The largest species reaches a length of 12 cm (4.7 in). They are sometimes seen in the aquarium trade; especially H. compressa. In Australia they are known as carp gudgeons.
Kimberleyeleotris is a genus of fishes in the family Eleotridae endemic to Australia, where they are only known from rivers in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Milyeringa is a genus of blind cavefish from the Cape Range and Barrow Island, northwestern Australia. Although traditionally considered to belong to the family Eleotridae, studies show that they represent a distinct and far-separated lineage together with the Typhleotris cavefish from Madagascar, leading some to move them to their own family, Milyeringidae. The generic name is taken from Milyering which is 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Vlamingh Head in the North West Cape of Western Australia, the type locality for Milyeringa veritas.
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.
Xenisthmus is the most well-known genus in the family Xenisthmidae, which is regarded as a synonymous with the Eleotridae, a part of Gobiiformes. These small to very small fish are known as wrigglers, and live in reefs and among rubble in the Indo-Pacific.
Xenisthmus chi is a species of fish in the wriggler family, Xenisthmidae, which is regarded as a synonymous with the Eleotridae,. Japan wrigglers are tiny and clear. Before Paedocypris progenetica and the dwarf goby were discovered, the Japan wriggler was the smallest known fish.
Xenisthmus eirospilus, the spotted wriggler, is a species of fish in the wriggler family, Xenisthmidae, which is regarded as a synonymous with the Eleotridae,. It is distributed in the western Pacific from Middleton Reef and Ashmore Reef off Australia, West Papua, Indonesia, to Rotuma and Tonga. Its habitat is sand patches among reefs and rubble, as well as in shallow surge areas.
Philypnodon is a genus of fishes in the family Eleotridae endemic to Australia and the coastal waters around it.
Mogurnda adspersa is a species of endangered gudgeon that is endemic to south-eastern mainland Australia (the states of South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. The fish is brown, although the shade becomes lighter near its abdomen. Spots of various colours occur on its sides. After a dramatic population decline in the late 20th century, the fish was thought to be locally extinct in several areas, but was rediscovered both in South Australia and Victoria in the 21st century. Various state governments, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, and various volunteer organisations have been taking measures to increase the fish's numbers.
The flathead gudgeon is a species of fish in the family Eleotridae endemic to eastern Australia.
Gobiomorphus coxii, or Cox's gudgeon, is a species of sleeper goby in the family Eleotridae which is native to the upland rivers of south eastern Australia.
Thalasseleotrididae is a family of two genera of the order Gobiiformes which are found in the temperate seas of Australia and New Zealand. They were formerly classified as part of the family Eleotridae but workers had noted that these genera were atypical members of the Eleotridae. The Thalasseleotrididae was erected as a family based on both genera having similar osteological characteristics in the bones of pectoral girdle and the gill arches and having the first gill slit restricted or closed by a broad membrane which connects the hyoid arch to the first ceratobranchial bone. This family is considered to be a sister group to the family Gobiidae.
Thalasseleotris is a genus of gobies comprising two species in the family Thalasseleotrididae from the south-western Pacific Ocean in the seas off Australia and New Zealand. The generic name is derived from the Greek Thalassa meaning "sea" and the generic name Eleotris as at the time it was named the genus was considered to be in the family Eleotridae.
The dwarf shore eel is a species of clingfish from the family Gobiesocidae.It is a small species which attains a maximum total length of 4.5 centimetres (1.8 in). This species is transparent and its internal organs are clearly visible through its skin. It occurs at depths of 0 to 5 metres within beds of seagrass and sometimes in nearby reefs. It is endemic to southern Australia where its range extends from near Sydney in New South Wales to Houtman Abrolhos in Western Australia, including the northern and eastern coasta of Tasmania. This species was described by Victor G. Springer and Thomas H. Fraser in 1976 and the specific name honours the ichthyologist Douglass F. Hoese of the Australian Museum who provided Springer and Fraser with much of the material they used in their description.
Oxyeleotris nullipora, the poreless gudgeon, is a gudgeon of the genus Oxyeleotris, a freshwater fish found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.