goby

goby, any of the more than 2,200 species of fishes of the suborder Gobioidei (order Perciformes). Gobies are carnivorous, usually small in size, and found throughout the world. Especially abundant in the tropics, they are primarily marine in habit. Most species are bottom-dwellers and have a weak suction cup formed by the fusion of their pelvic fins.

The majority of species belong to the family Gobiidae. These are typically elongated, sometimes scaleless fishes found along shores and among reefs in tropical and temperate seas. Among their characteristics are two dorsal fins, the first with several weak spines; lack of a lateral line (series of small sense organs along the head and sides); and, usually, a rounded tail. Many are brightly coloured, and some, such as the crystal goby (Crystallogobius nilssoni) of Europe, are transparent. Most adult gobiids are 10 centimetres (4 inches) long or less; the Philippine Pandaka pygmaea, one of the smallest living vertebrates, grows no longer than about 13 millimetres (3/8 inch).

Many gobies, such as the longjaw mudsucker (Gillichthys mirabilis) of the eastern Pacific, inhabit burrows in sand or mud, and some share burrows with other animals. An example of the latter is the blind goby (Typhlogobius californiensis), a small, pink fish native to California that lives intertidally in burrows dug by the ghost shrimp, Callianassa. Another form of association between gobies and other animals is typified by the neon goby (Elecatinus oceanops), a small Caribbean species brilliantly banded with blue. It is one of several members of the genus that function as “cleaners,” picking and eating the parasites from the bodies of larger fishes. Mudskippers (Periophthalmus) are amphibious and live in the mudflats of the Indo-Pacific and eastern Atlantic regions. The gobiids, like other members of the suborder, are egg-laying fishes and commonly guard their eggs, each of which is attached to a shell, rock, or other such site.

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The suborder includes several families other than the Gobiidae: the Eleotridae (sleepers), Microdesmidae (wormfishes), and Kraemeriidae (sand gobies).