Gobiidae

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the fish family Gobiidae. For other fish called goby, see Goby.

Gobies
Black goby (
Gobius niger
)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gobiiformes
Family: Gobiidae
G. Cuvier, 1816
Subfamilies

See text.

Gobiidae or gobies is a

Phylogenetic relationships of gobiids have been studied using molecular data.[2][3]

Description

Ptereleotridae

The most distinctive aspects of gobiid

lumpsuckers, but is anatomically distinct; these similarities are the product of convergent evolution. The species in this family can often be seen using the sucker to adhere to rocks and corals, and in aquariums
they will stick to glass walls of the tank, as well.

Distribution and habitat

Gobiidae are spread all over the world in tropical and temperate near shore-marine,

brackish, and freshwater environments. Their range extends from the Old World coral reefs to the seas of the New World, and includes the rivers and near-shore habitats of Europe and Asia.[4] Gobies are generally bottom-dwellers. Although many live in burrows, a few species (e.g. in the genus Glossogobius) are true cavefish.[5] On coral reefs, species of gobiids constitute 35% of the total number of fishes and 20% of the species diversity.[6]

Subfamilies

See also: List of Gobiidae genera

The family Gobiidae underwent a major revision in the 5th edition of

Schindleriidae were added to the revised Gobiidae, although no subfamilies were described.[7]

The two formerly recognised subfamilies where the species have been retained in Gobiidae in the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World:[7]

Benthophilinae

Main article: Benthophilinae

Members of Benthophilinae are endemic to the Ponto-Caspian region (including the

monkey gobies, and bighead gobies
.

Gobiinae

Main article: Gobiinae

Members of the Gobiinae are known as

true gobies
. It is the most widespread and most diverse of the subfamilies formerly recognised under the Gobiidae, containing around 2000 species and 150 genera.

Ecology and biology

Gobiids are primarily fish of shallow marine habitats, including

freshwater environments. These include the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), Australian desert goby (Chlamydogobius eremius), and the European freshwater goby Padogobius bonelli. Most gobies feed on small invertebrates, although some of the larger species eat other fish, and a few eat planktonic algae
.

Reproduction

Most species in the Gobiidae attach their eggs to a

freshwater gobiid species are carried downstream to the brackish waters, or even to the sea. They return to fresh water weeks or months later.[11]

Gobiids in warmer waters reach adulthood in a few months, while gobies in cooler environments reach adulthood in two years. The total lifespan of gobiid varies from one to ten years, again with the species in warmer waters generally living longer.[11]

Behavior

Burrow construction

Many species in the Gobiidae live in male-female pairs that construct and share burrows, similar to many other fish such as

benthic algae in order to build their burrows.[12] Gobiids maintain their burrows by fanning away sand inside the burrows. Furthermore, gobies use coral rubble to block burrow entrance. A single goby carry as many as nine pieces of coral rubble per minute. Gobiids also build a 6–13 cm high mound over the entrance of their spawning burrow.[12] The mound lets the water flow fast over the mound. The water flow created by the mound helps to provide oxygen to the eggs. While burrow building is a cooperative behavior done by both sexes, males usually put more effort in burrow maintenance than females. Females feed more instead, because the reproductive success is optimal when females put more energy in preparing for the reproduction.[13] After spawning eggs, the roles of male and female changes. Females primarily maintain the burrow, and males mainly care for the eggs by fanning them, thereby providing oxygen. When females leave the burrow, however, the mounds lose their heights. The males then give up on the eggs and eat them, preparing for future mating opportunities. Gobiid burrows vary in size depending on the size of the species.[13]

Kleptogamy

Kleptogamy refers to a "sneaking behavior" during reproduction where an unpaired male fertilises the eggs of a paired female and the paired male cares for the eggs. Females prefer male gobies with large bodies. Since not all males have large bodies, the smaller ones may cheat instead of expending energy to find mates.[14] The sneakers wait near the spawning ground of paired fish. The sneakers then release their sperm on the spawning ground as soon as the paired female releases her eggs.[15] Though sneakers’ sperm fertilizes some eggs, the paired male cannot distinguish the eggs fertilized by the sneakers from those fertilized by his own sperm. Therefore, the paired male gives parental care equally to all the eggs.[16]

Kleptogamy is a good strategy in many ways. First, the sneakers do not need their own territories, indicating that they do not need to spend energy in protecting territories, as most other males do. Most male gobies need their own territories, since females do not choose to mate with a male that does not own his own territory.[14] Secondly, the sneakers do not provide parental care to their eggs. The paired males provide parental care instead of the sneakers. Therefore, the sneakers can save energy, and they can put more effort into finding new targets for cheating.[14]

The cost of kleptogamy is that the sneakers can receive aggressive attacks from the paired males that are usually much larger and stronger than the sneakers. For small sneakers, the attacks by the paired males can be detrimental and often lead to death.[14]

The sneakers are also referred to as pseudo-females, since they are small and hardly distinguishable from females. This small body size makes cheating easier. Most of the time the paired males mistake the sneakers for females and thus do not chase the sneakers away. The paired males are called "bourgeois" males, because they are larger, stronger, and most importantly, paired.[14]

An 1865 watercolor painting of a Brazilian goby by Jacques Burkhardt.
A 1865 watercolor painting of a Brazilian goby by Jacques Burkhardt

Sex change

A few species of gobiid, such as

wrasses, damselfishes, and sea basses.[14] Female-to-male change usually occurs because the resident male of the group is dead. If no male is in the group, reproduction will be impossible. Therefore, the dominant female turns into male, allowing mating to happen.[17] Male-to-female change occurs when the females have preference for specific features in males. For example, females prefer large males, and a few large males mate with multiple females, whereas small males lose their chance to mate. Small males either choose to become sneakers (kleptogamy) or choose to transform into females because all females technically have high mating opportunities. By turning into females, males can ensure that they produce many offspring.[14][18]

Some gobies have extraordinarily developed sex change ability. Gobiodon histrio from the Great Barrier Reef exhibits bidirectional sex changes. G. histrio is one of the very few species that can change sex in both ways. When two G. historio females, which used to be males, are on the same coral reef, one of them transforms back into a male goby.[18]

Sex determination

Sex determination in coral goby Gobiodon erythrospilus does not occur until the juveniles meet potential mates.

vice versa. This type of sex determination is referred to as socially influenced sex determination.[19]

Navigation

Some gobiids remember

low tides, they can exhibit accurate jumping behaviors, as they have memorized the paths.[20] In a new environment, these fish do not show jumping behaviors or jump into wrong pools. Nevertheless, after one night, they show the same accurate jumping behaviors.[21]

Habitat choice

A study was done to understand how gobiids react to changing habitat. The fish were given two choices: a safe habitat with less food and a dangerous habitat with more food. Results from both the full and hungry fish revealed that gobiids, when confronted with the trade-off between foraging and avoiding predation, made choices that would better their foraging.[22]

Some marine gobies live in symbiosis with shrimp.

Symbiosis

Species in the Gobiidae sometimes form

alpha male and female reproduce, other fish in the colony eat sparingly to resist being eaten by the alpha male or female. This way, only the largest and fittest are able to reproduce.[citation needed
]

Another example of

parasites from the skin, fins, mouth, and gills of a wide variety of large fish. The most remarkable aspect of this symbiosis is many of the fish that visit the cleaner gobies' cleaning stations would otherwise treat such small fish as food (for example, groupers and snapper
). Again, this is a relationship where both parties gain: the gobies get a continual supply of food as bigger fish visit their cleaning stations, and the bigger fish leave the cleaning stations healthier than they were when they arrived.

Another form of symbiosis exists between gobiids and the mushroom coral Heliofungia actiniformis (Fungiidae), in which representatives of the genus Eviota roam among the tentacles possibly hiding from predators.[24][25]

Commercial importance

Dried gobies for sale on the market in Odesa, Ukraine

Gobiids have commercial importance in

toad goby, and grass goby. The grass goby is also a commercial fish in Italy
.

In the aquarium

Several species of gobiids are kept in aquaria.

neon goby
. Most gobies stay toward the lower portion of the aquarium, hiding in the rockwork, but some species (most notably the shrimp gobies) prefer to dig themselves little burrows. Aquarists typically provide them with a fine-grained substrate to prevent damage to their delicate undersides. Commonly kept saltwater species include
watchman goby
.

See also

  • Sleeper gobies are a closely related family (Eleotridae) that lack the fused pelvic fin sucker typical of most gobies, but are otherwise very similar in size, shape, and ecology.
  • Blennies
    are a group of shallow-water marine fish often confused with gobies.
  • Dragonets are superficially similar to gobies and sometimes confused with them.
  • Pholidichthys leucotaenia is commonly called the engineer goby or convict goby, but is not a goby.

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-57808-436-4
    .
  2. PMID 23911892
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  3. doi:10.1080/14772000.2012.699477
    .
  4. doi:10.1080/14772000.2011.629011
    .
  5. ISBN 978-1402000768
    .
  6. doi:10.1007/s10641-011-9782-6
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6
    .
  8. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.1996.tb00098.x
    .
  9. ^ Miller P.J. (1986) Gobiidae. In: Whitehead P.J.P., Bauchot M.-L., Hureau J.-C., Nielsen J., Tortonese E. (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Vol. 3. UNESCO, Paris.
  10. ^ Pinchuk, V.I. (1991). "K voprosu o grupirovkakh vidov v predelakh roda Neogobius (Perciformes)". Voprosy Ikhtiologii. 31: 380–393.
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-0-12-547665-2
    .
  12. ^ a b Reebs, Stephan. "Can fishes build things?" (PDF).
  13. ^
    doi:10.1007/BF02675430
    .
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Reebs, Stephan. "The sex lives of fishes" (PDF).
  15. doi:10.1093/beheco/arl098
    .
  16. S2CID 24806138
    .
  17. doi:10.1007/s00265-005-0101-0
    .
  18. ^
    doi:10.1007/s002650050504
    .
  19. PMID 15475329
    .
  20. ^ Reebs, Stephan. "How fishes find their ways around" (PDF).
  21. PMID 5288865
    .
  22. doi:10.3354/meps049021
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  23. ISBN 978-0-86542-256-8
    .
  24. doi:10.1007/s00338-011-0834-3
    .
  25. doi:10.1007/s10641-014-0374-0
    .
  26. ISBN 978-3936027822
    .

External links

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