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.
Glossogobius giuris, the tank goby, is a species of goby native to fresh, marine and brackish waters from the Red Sea and East Africa through South Asia and the Indian Ocean to China, Australia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade. It is also known as the bar-eyed goby, flat-headed goby and the Gangetic tank goby.
Koumansetta rainfordi, the old glory or Court Jester goby, is a species of goby native to tropical reefs of the western Pacific Ocean where it occurs at depths of from 2 to 30 metres. This species can reach a length of 8.5 centimetres (3.3 in) SL. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. The specific name honours the viticulturalist E. H. Rainford, of the Queensland Agricultural Department, who also collected specimens for the Australian Museum, and in 1924 he collected specimens of this species.
Hector's goby is a species of goby native to the Indian Ocean to the islands of Micronesia in the western Pacific Ocean. It can be found on sheltered coral reefs at depths of from 3 to 30 metres. This species reaches a length of 8.5 centimetres (3.3 in) SL. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. The specific name honours Gordon Hector who was Chief Secretary to the Government of the Seychelles, in gratitude for his help to Smith's work in the Seychelles.
Amblyeleotris wheeleri, the Gorgeous prawn-goby, is a species of goby native to tropical reefs of the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific Ocean. It can be found at depths of from 5 to 40 metres though is usually does not occur deeper than 15 metres (49 ft). It is a commensal with alpheid shrimps, most often being found in association with Alpheus ochrostriatus. This species can reach a length of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) SL. It can also be found in the aquarium trade.
Oxyurichthys microlepis, commonly known as the maned goby, is a species of goby native to tropical marine and brackish waters along the coasts of the Indian Ocean from Africa to the western Pacific Ocean where it occurs in estuaries and inshore waters to depths of about 75 metres (246 ft). It occurs in the Mekong Delta and is suspected to use the tidal flow up the river to reach as far inland as Cambodia. This species can reach a length of 13.5 centimetres (5.3 in) TL. It is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can also be found in the aquarium trade.
Bucchich's goby is a species of goby native to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and perhaps the Black Sea. It has traditionally been considered to be more widespread, but in 2016 the similar incognito goby was described. It had been confused with the Bucchich's goby and much information formerly published for this species is now considered to actually be for the incognito goby.
Xenisthmus polyzonatus is a species of fish in the Xenisthmidae (wriggler) family, which is regarded as a synonymous with the Eleotridae... It is found in the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to Samoa, north to the Ryukyu Islands.
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 balius is a species of fish in the Xenisthmidae (wriggler) family, which is regarded as a synonymous with the Eleotridae,. It is found in the Persian Gulf.
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.
The small-eyed goby is a species of goby native to tropical reefs of the Indian Ocean through the western Pacific Ocean where it inhabits areas of coral rubble. As its common name suggests, this species has particularly small eyes. This species grows to a length of 6 centimetres (2.4 in) TL. This species is the only known member of its genus. The small-eyed goby is specialised to feed on seagrass and they share a burrows with mud lobsters of the genus Thalassina. The specific name honours Charles Melbourne Ward (1903-1966), the Australian actor, naturalist and collector of specimens who collected the type specimen.
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.
Bryaninops erythrops, known commonly as the translucent coral goby or Erythrops goby , is a species of marine fish in the family Gobiidae.
Dunckerocampus chapmani is a species of marine fish of the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to New Caledonia, where it inhabits shallow lagoons to depths of 0–8 metres (0–26 ft). It has only been recorded in the vicinity of the city of Noumea. It can grow to lengths of 8.5 centimetres (3.3 in). It is expected to feed on small parasitic crustaceans that grow on other fishes, similar to most other members of its genus. This species is ovoviviparous, with males carrying eggs and giving birth to live young. The eggs of D. chapmani are particularly large, meaning that only 30 per brood are produced, which is quite low for a pipefish. Males may brood at 8 centimetres (3.1 in).
Xenisthmus oligoporus, the few-pored wriggler, is a species of goby from the family Eleotridae. It is found in the Red Sea off Saudi Arabia.
Goby is a common name for many species of small to medium sized ray-finned fish, normally with large heads and tapered bodies, which are found in marine, brackish and freshwater environments. Traditionally most of the species called gobies have been classified in the order Perciformes as the suborder Gobioidei but in the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World this suborder is elevated to an order Gobiiformes within the clade Percomorpha. Not all the species in the Gobiiformes are referred to as gobies and the "true gobies" are placed in the family Gobiidae, while other species referred to as gobies have been placed in the Oxudercidae. Goby is also used to describe some species which are not classified within the order Gobiiformes, such as the engineer goby or convict blenny Pholidichthys leucotaenia. The word goby derives from the Latin gobius meaning "gudgeon", and some species of goby, especially the sleeper gobies in the family Eleotridae and some of the dartfishes are called "gudgeons", especially in Australia.
The Red Sea goby is a species of true goby from the family Gobiidae. It was once a species confined to the Red Sea but it has colonised the Suez Canal and the south-eastern Mediterranean by Lessepsian migration.
