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.
Graham's gudgeon, Grahamichthys radiata, is a species of goby of the family Thalasseleotrididae, the only member of the genus Grahamichthys. This species is found in rock pools and in the neritic zone, to 50 metres (160 ft) in depth, where sand or mud is lies around and partially buries rocks, shells, or other objects. It is unusual for a goby, in that it lives in loose schools. The generic name is a compound formed from the surname Graham in honour of David H. Graham who wrote A Treasury of New Zealand Fishes which was published in 1953 and therefore is an allusion to this taxon being endemic to New Zealand and the Greek ichthys meaning "fish".
Eleotris pellegrini is a species of fish in the family Eleotridae endemic to Madagascar where it can be found in mangrove swamps. This species can reach a length of 23 cm (9.1 in). The specific name honours the French ichthyologist Jacques Pellegrin (1873-1944), who discovered this species in 1933 but thought that it was Eleotris vittata.
The Mitchell gudgeon is a species of fish in the family Eleotridae endemic to the Kimberley region of Australia, where it is only known from the Mitchell River system. This species can reach a length of 4 cm (1.6 in). The specific name honours the ichthyologist J. Barry Hutchins of the Western Australian Museum, who collected the type.
Milyeringa veritas is a species of fish in the family Milyeringidae. It is endemic to groundwater and anchialine systems in caves in the Cape Range, Australia. Like other cave-adapted fish, the blind gudgeon is entirely blind and lacks pigmentation, using sensory papillae on its head and body to move around and find food. It has a reduced number of scales on its body and the head is almost scaleless. It reaches a standard length of 5 cm (2.0 in). It is listed as vulnerable under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It is an omnivorous species which feeds on feeds on algae and possibly also detritus, as well as invertebrates. Invertebrates consumed by M. veritas include Stygiocaris sp., aquatic insect larvae such as those of caddis flies and non aquatic invertebrates which accidentally fall into the water such as isopods, ants and cockroaches. When the gut contents have been sampled 10% of the identifiable gut contents were Stygiocaris and 70% were terrestrial species, despite this species being restricted to caves. They are often observed hanging still in the water column or resting on ledges in the cave walls, behaviours which they also display when kept in aquaria, but can move quickly to avoid capture if threatened, for example when catching them with a net is attempted. 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, and the specific name is Latin veritas meaning truth an allusion to a quote attributed to the Ancient Greek philosopher Democritus "Truth lies at the bottom of a well, the depth of which, alas! gives but little hope of release.”
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.
Ratsirakia legendrei is a species of fish in the family Eleotridae endemic to fresh waters of Madagascar. This species can reach a length of 17 cm (6.7 in). It is the only known member of its genus. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Ratsirakia, the name of which honours Didier Ratsiraka who was President of Madagascar from 1975-1993 and from 1997-2002 while the specific name refers to the French physician Jean Legendre who discovered the species while serving with French colonial troops in Madagascar.
Typhleotris is a genus of cavefish that are endemic to caves in southwestern Madagascar. Although traditionally considered to belong to the family Eleotridae, studies show that they represent a distinct and far-separated lineage together with the Milyeringa cavefish from Australia, leading some to move them to their own family, Milyeringidae.
Typhleotris pauliani is a critically endangered species of fish in the family Milyeringidae that is endemic to Madagascar, where it is only known from a few caves and sinkholes in the southwestern portion of the island. This blind cavefish lacks pigmentation and can reach a standard length of 7.1 cm (2.8 in). It feeds on invertebrates and guano. Part of its range receive some protection, but the species is threatened by disturbance from recreational activities and collectors of guano. The specific name honours the French entomologist and former deputy director of the Institut de recherche pour le développement in Madagascar, Renaud Paulian (1913-2003), who collected the type specimens as well as contributing a lot to the knowledge of the biogeography of the western Indian Ocean.
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".
Dorothea's wriggler, Allomicrodesmus dorotheae, is a species of fish in the monotypic genus Allomicrodesmus which is regarded by some authorities as being in the family Xenisthmidae, the wriggler family, but in the 5th edition of Fishes of the World this is treated as a synonym of the family Eleotridae, sleeper gobies. It is 5 cm (2.0 in) in length. It is known from just two specimens, one from the Great Barrier Reef and the other from the Marshall Islands. It has been collected from a depth of around 10 m (33 ft) in a channel in a reef. The specific name honours Dorothea Bowers Schultz, the wife of Leonard Peter Schultz, who illustrated the monograph in which this species is described, although not this species.
Paraxenisthmus springeri is a species of fish in the genus Paraxenisthmus of the Xenisthmidae (wriggler) family, which is regarded as a synonymous with the Eleotridae, from the West Pacific. Its specific name honours the American ichthyologist Victor G. Springer of the U.S. National Museum for his contributions to fish systematics.
Rhyacichthys guilberti is a goby belonging to the family Rhyacichthyidae. This fish only occurs in the Northern Province of New Caledonia and in Vanuatu. It is found in only two rivers. Its maximum standard length of about 240 mm. Its population on New Caledonia was estimated at less than 400 individuals, but it is now thought to have been extirpated from that island, it remains common on Vanuatu.
Milyeringa justitia, commonly known as the Barrow cave gudgeon, is a species of fish in the family Milyeringidae endemic to groundwater systems (aquifers) of Barrow Island, around 50 km off the Pilbara coast in Western Australia. This troglobitic species has a pale body, lacking in pigment, and it is eyeless and blind, using sensory papillae located on the head and body to allow it to feed and move around in total darkness. The specific name justitia is Latin for "justice" and was given by the describers to complement the specific name of Milyeringa veritas which means "truth" in the hope that “As truth and justice are supposed to go together, we name this species justitia, from the Latin for justice, in the hope that justice helps the species to survive on Barrow Island, which has been an oilfield since 1967 and is most recently the site of the Gorgon Gas Hub development.” Very little is known about M. justitia as between 2002 and 2013 only six specimens were collected but its biology is assumed to be similar to that of M. veritas.
Caecieleotris morrisi, also known as the Oaxaca cave sleeper is a species of troglobitic fish in the family Eleotridae found in a single cave system beneath Presa Miguel Alemán reservoir, northern State of Oaxaca in Mexico. This species is the only member of its genus.
Protogobius attiti is a species of loach goby which is endemic to nine rivers in South Province, New Caledonia. It occurs in rivers with ultramafic beds. It prefers areas where there is a gravel substrate under overhanging vegetation in slower reaches of fast flowing, clear streams. The rocks and gravel in the areas in which it occurs are usually coated with detritus. When threatened it buries itself in the gravel leaving its eyes, mouth and first dorsal fin above the substrate. Its main prey is small freshwater crustaceans, especially the abundant transparent shrimp which occur in these streams. It is threatened by nickel mining which creates sediments which blanker the rocks on which it hides and destroys the algae its prey feed on. The specific name honours a Melanesian chief of Goro, New Caledonia.
Belobranchus segura is a species of eleotrid sleeper goby which has been found in Indonesia on Halmahera, in Papua Barat and also on the Solomon Islands. It is an anadromous species in which the eggs are laid over rocky and gravel bottoms in freshwater streams. The free-swimming larvae then drift downstream to the sea where they undergo a planktonic stage before migrating up streams to mature and breed. It feeds on small crustaceans and fish. The specific name honours the French hydrobiologist Gilles Segura for his contribution to the study of fish faunas.
Paraxenisthmus cerberusi is a species of fish in the genus Paraxenisthmus of the Xenisthmidae (wriggler) family, which is regarded as a synonymous with the Eleotridae, from Palau and Fiji in the West Pacific. Its specific name refers to Cerberus, the three-headed dog which guards the entrance to Hades in Greek mythology, given to this species because of its relatively large number of teeth and in reference to the black juveniles and the red and black adults, the colours of which are associated with Hell in Christianity. This small fish was found in a drop-off which had caves and ledges with shelves and slopes covered in silt and sand. The area had growths of hydroids, sea fans, a range of hard corals and some Halimeda.
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.
Helen K. Larson is an ichthyologist who specialises in the fishes of the Indo-Pacific.
