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.
Favonigobius is a genus of gobies native to fresh, brackish and marine waters around the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Commonly called "sand gobies", this term more alternatively refers to the family Kraemeriidae, a relative of the true gobies.
Exyrias is a genus of gobies mostly native to marine waters of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean with one freshwater species (E. volcanus) known from the Philippines.
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.
Brachygobius is a small genus of gobies. They are popular aquarium fish where a number of species are sold as bumblebee gobies because their colours are similar to those of bumblebees.
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.
Redigobius bikolanus, the speckled goby or bigmouth goby, is a species of goby native to marine, fresh and brackish waters along the coasts of Asia from Japan to Australia out to the Pacific islands of New Caledonia and Vanuatu and along the coast of South Africa and the Seychelles. This species inhabits streams, creeks and estuaries, often being found upstream beyond the tidal zones of rivers. This fish can reach a length of 4.2 centimetres (1.7 in) SL.
Silhouettea is a genus of gobies native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. The name of this genus refers to the island of Silhouette in the Seychelles where the type specimens of the type species, Silhouettea insinuans, were collected.
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.
Amoya is a genus of gobies in the family Gobiidae native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
Pseudogobiopsis is a genus of fish in the goby family, Gobiidae. They are native to fresh and brackish waters of southern and southeastern Asia. The genus is mainly distinguished by the number and arrangement of fin rays and spines, headpores, and sensory papillae, the large mouths of the males, a fleshy or bony flange on the pectoral girdle, and the shape of the genital papilla.
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.
Drombus is a genus of gobies native to fresh, brackish and marine waters of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.
Gnatholepis is a genus of fish in the family Gobiidae, the gobies. It is the only marine genus in the subfamily Gobionellinae, which otherwise includes mostly estuary-dwelling and freshwater fish. Gnatholepis are tropical fish associated with sandy habitat around corals.
Gobiopterus is a genus of gobies native to fresh, marine and brackish waters of the coastal areas around the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Oxyurichthys is a genus of fish in the subfamily Gobionellinae, commonly known 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.
Pseudogobius is a genus of fish in the goby family, Gobiidae. It is widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Species occur in freshwater and estuarine habitat types, such as mangroves and seagrass beds.
Stigmatogobius is a genus of fish in the goby subfamily, Gobionellinae. It is distributed in the Indo-Pacific region, specifically the Indo-Malayan zone. Species can be found along the substrate or hiding in plant litter in freshwater habitat, and sometimes in estuary habitat, such as mangrove stands.
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.
Helen K. Larson is an ichthyologist who specialises in the fishes of the Indo-Pacific.
