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Eleotridae

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Eleotridae
Graham's gudgeon, Grahamichthys radiata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Perciformes
Family:
Eleotridae
Genera

~35, see text

Sleeper gobies are members of the Eleotridae fish family, found predominantly in the tropical Indo-Pacific. There are approximately 35 genera and 150 species. 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 waters. They are especially important as predators in the freshwater stream ecosystems on oceanic islands such as New Zealand and Hawai'i 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. [1]

Like the true gobies they are generally small fish that live on the substrate, often amongst vegetation, in burrows, or in crevices within rocks and coral reefs. Although goby-like in many ways, sleeper gobies lack the pelvic fin sucker, and that, together with other morphological differences, is used to distinguish the two families. It is widely believed that the Gobiidae and Eleotridae share a common ancestor, and they are both placed in the order Gobioidei, along with a few other small families containing goby-like fishes. [2]

Dormitator and Eleotris are two of the most widespread and typical genera, including a variety of species that inhabit marine, estuarine, and freshwater habitats. Dormitator maculatus for example grows to about 1 ft (30 cm) and is widely found in brackish and shallow marine waters of the southeastern United States and Mexico. [3] There are some predatory sleeper gobies that get much bigger, such as the marbled sleeper goby, Oxyeleotris marmorata, a freshwater species from South East Asia that can grow to 2 ft (60 cm) long. [4] However, most are much smaller, such as the fresh and brackish water species from Australia like Hypseleotris spp., known locally as gudgeons (not to be confused with the Eurasian freshwater cyprinid Gobio gobio, also known as the gudgeon and after which the Australian sleeper gobies were likely named). [5]

Species

References

  1. ^ Helfman G., Collette B., & Facey D.: The Diversity of Fishes, Blackwell Publishing, p 264, 1997, ISBN 0-86542-256-7
  2. ^ Helfman G., Collette B., & Facey D.: The Diversity of Fishes, Blackwell Publishing, p 264, 1997, ISBN 0-86542-256-7
  3. ^ Hoedeman, J.: Naturalist's Guide to Freshwater Aquarium Fish, Elsevier, pp 1096-1099, 1974, ISBN 0-8069-3722-X
  4. ^ Riehl R. & Baensch H: Aquarium Atlas (vol. 1), p. 832, Voyageur Press, 1996, ISBN 3-88244-050-3
  5. ^ Riehl R. & Baensch H: Aquarium Atlas (vol. 2), pp 1063-1073, Microcosm Ltd, 1997, ISBN 1-890087-06-8
  6. ^ Thacker & Pezold (2006). "Redescription of the dwarf Neotropical eleotrid genus Leptophilypnus (Teleostei: Gobioidei), including a new species and comments on Microphilypnus". Copeia. 2006 (3): 494ff. doi:10.1643/0045-8511(2006)2006[489:ROTDNE]2.0.CO;2.
  7. ^ Hoese & Reader (2006). "Description of a new species of dwarf Philypnodon (Teleostei: Gobioidei: Eleotridae) from south-eastern Australia" ([dead link‍]). Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 63 (1): 15–19.
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