GOBIES
The gobies form the family Gobiidae, which is
one of the largest families of fish, with more
than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera.[1]
Most are relatively small, typically less than 10
cm (4 in) in length. Gobies include some of the
smallest vertebrates in the world, like species
of the genera Trimmaton and Pandaka, which
are under 1 cm (3/8 in) long when fully grown.
There are some large gobies, such as some
species of the genera Gobioides or
Periophthalmodon, that can reach over 30 cm
(1 ft) in length, but that is exceptional.
Although few are important as food for
humans, they are of great significance as prey
species for commercially important fish like
cod, haddock, sea bass, and flatfish. Several
gobies are also of interest as aquarium fish,
such as the bumblebee gobies of the genus
Brachygobius.
The most distinctive aspect of goby
morphology are the fused pelvic fins that form
a disc-shaped sucker. This sucker is
functionally analogous to the dorsal fin sucker
possessed by the remoras or the pelvic fin
sucker of the lumpsuckers, but is anatomically
distinct: these similarities are the product of
convergent evolution. Gobies can often be
seen using the sucker to adhere to rocks and
corals, and in aquaria they will happily stick to
glass walls of the tank as well.
Gobies are primarily fish of shallow marine
habitats including tide pools, coral reefs, and
seagrass meadows; they are also very
numerous in brackish water and estuarine
habitats including the lower reaches of rivers,
mangrove swamps, and salt marshes. A small
number of gobies (unknown exactly, but in the
low hundreds) are also fully adapted to
freshwater environments. These include the
Asian river gobies (Rhinogobius spp.), the
Australian desert goby (Chlamydogobius
eremius), and the European freshwater goby
Padogobius bonelli.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
