Gobiidae 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, sometimes referred to as the "true gobies". Most of them are relatively small, typically less than 10 cm (3.9 in) in length. The Gobiidae 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 9mm (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 for humans, they are of great significance as prey species for 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.
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.
Mudskippers are amphibious fish. They are of the family Oxudercidae and the subfamily Oxudercinae. There are 32 living species of mudskipper.
Sleeper goby may refer to three families of goby formerly classified as part of the single family Eleotridae, and a genus from the family Gobiidae:
Stonogobiops nematodes, the Filament-finned prawn-goby, the Antenna goby, the high-fin goby, the red-banded goby, the high-fin red-banded goby, the striped goby, the barber-pole goby, or the black-ray Goby, is a species of marine goby native to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean from the Seychelles to the Philippines and Bali.
Amblyeleotris steinitzi, Steinitz' prawn goby or simply Steinitz' goby, is a species of small fish in the family Gobiidae. It lives in association with an alpheid shrimp and is found from the Red Sea through the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean.
Luciogobius is a genus of goby in the subfamily, Gobionellinae. It is distributed along the coast of northeastern Asia, where species can be found in Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan. Most species occur in Japan, and several are endemic.
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".
A bottom feeder is an aquatic animal that feeds on or near the bottom of a body of water. Biologists often use the terms benthos—particularly for invertebrates such as shellfish, crabs, crayfish, sea anemones, starfish, snails, bristleworms and sea cucumbers—and benthivore or benthivorous, for fish and invertebrates that feed on material from the bottom. However the term benthos includes all aquatic life that lives on or near the bottom, which means it also includes non-animals, such as plants and algae. Biologists also use specific terms that refer to bottom feeding fish, such as demersal fish, groundfish, benthic fish and benthopelagic fish. Examples of bottom feeding fish species groups are flatfish, eels, cod, haddock, bass, grouper, carp, bream (snapper) and some species of catfish and shark.
Valenciennea strigata is a species of fish in the family Gobiidae, the gobies. Its common names include the blueband goby, golden-head sleeper goby, and pennant glider. It is native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean where it can be found in outer lagoons and the seaward side of reefs. It occurs in a variety of substrates, sand, rubble, hard, at depths of from 1 to 25 metres. It primarily inhabits burrows dug under rubble, using them as both a nesting site and a refuge from predators. Such burrows typically have two entrances; however, only one of them is open, as the other is covered by rubble, sand, and algae. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. This species can reach a length of 18 centimetres (7.1 in) TL. It is the type species of the genus Valenciennea.
Valenciennea wardii, Ward's sleeper,Ward's sleeper goby, is a species of goby native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean in bays, reefs and lagoons at depths of from 12 to 35 metres. It can be found on sandy or silty substrates. This species can reach a length of 15 centimetres (5.9 in) SL. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. The specific name honours the United Kingdom diplomat Swinburne Ward (1830-1897) who was Her Majesty's Civil Commissioner for the Seychelles, although this species was described from specimens collected off Zanzibar.
The violet goby is a species of goby native to marine, fresh and brackish waters near the Atlantic coast of North and South America from South Carolina in the United States of America, to northern Brazil. It prefers bays, estuaries and river mouths with muddy substrates. It is often marketed as the dragon goby or dragon fish.
True gobies were a subfamily, the Gobiinae, of the goby family Gobiidae, although the 5th edition of the Fishes of the World does not subdivide the Gobiidae into subfamilies. They are found in all oceans and a few rivers and lakes, but most live in warm waters. Altogether, the Gobiinae unite about 1149 described species in 160 genera, and new ones are still being discovered in numbers.
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.
Rhinogobiops nicholsii, the blackeye goby, is a species of true goby in the family Gobiidae. It is the sole species classified under the genus Rhinogobiops. They are common inhabitants of coral reefs and rocky habitats along the Eastern Pacific Ocean coasts of Mexico, the United States, and Canada, although they are hardly noticed, as they often rest motionless near their shelters. Other common names for the species include bluespot goby and crested goby.
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.
Valenciennea helsdingenii is a species of goby from the Indo-Pacific. It is commonly known as the twostripe goby, black-lined sleeper goby, or railway sleeper goby. It can grow up to a length of 25 cm (9.8 in) and is distinguishable by two prominent orange to black lines running longitudinally through its body.
The largetooth goby, also known as Wilbur's goby, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Gobiidae which is native to the Indo-Pacific from the Seychelles to Micronesia. Its known range has been extended to the Red Sea as specimens were photographed at one site and collected at another site off Egypt. This species lives in sheltered marine waters at depths of from 0 to 20 metres preferring areas with sandy substrates. This species grows to a length of 6.5 centimetres (2.6 in) SL. This species is the only known member of its genus. This species is not obviously sexually dimorphic and it has a background colour of pale brown to greenish-brown and a pale ventral side. The body is marked with brown and white spots, pairs of larger brown spots create a mid-lateral row along its flanks and there is a dark spot on the caudal fin peduncle. It has a brown blotch on the cheek and a series of short brown bars along its back. The largetooth goby is a solitary fish which is found in coastal bays, lagoons and estuaries over fine sandy substrates close to the margins of reefs or silt beds in the vicinity of sheltered and often turbid coastal reefs. It is most frequently collected from shallow waters to 7 metres (23 ft), around coral reefs but off southern Japan, the largetooth goby occurs at the bottom of sandy bays. The specific name honours the American physician, Ray Lyman Wilbur (1875–1949) who was president of Stanford University from 1916–1943, as well as being the United States Secretary of the Interior from 1929–1933. Wilbur helped the author, Herre, get to Palau, the type locality of this species.
Oxudercidae is a family of gobies which consists of four subfamilies which were formerly classified under the family Gobiidae. The family is sometimes called the Gobionellidae, but Oxudercidae has priority. The species in this family have a cosmopolitan distribution in temperate and tropical areas and are found in marine and freshwater environments, typically in inshore, euryhaline areas with silt and sand substrates.
