The Benthophilinae are a subfamily of gobies endemic to the Ponto-Caspian region (including the Marmara, Black, Azov, Caspian, and Aral Seas).[1] The subfamily includes about 50 species. The representatives of the subfamily have fused pelvic fins and elongated dorsal and anal fins.[2] They are distinguished from the closely related subfamily Gobiinae by the absence of a swimbladder in adults and location of the uppermost rays of the pectoral fins within the fin membrane.[3]
Benthophilinae | |
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The pale monkey goby (Neogobius fluviatilis) and the dark bighead goby (Ponticola kessleri) are representatives of Benthophilinae | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Gobiiformes |
Family: | Gobiidae |
Subfamily: | Benthophilinae Beling & Iljin, 1927 |
Type genus | |
Benthophilus Eichwald, 1831
| |
Genera | |
See text |
The Catalog of Fishes still considers these fishes as belonging to the subfamily Gobiinae.[4]
Systematics of the subfamily
edit- Tribe Benthophilini
- Tribe Neogobiini
- Neogobius (type genus)
- Tribe Ponticolini
- Babka
- Mesogobius
- Ponticola (type genus)
- Proterorhinus[5]
References
edit- ^ Simonović P.D., Nikolić V.P., Skóra K.E. (1996) Vertebral number in Ponto-Caspian gobies: phylogenetic relevance. J. Fish Biol., 49: 1027–1029.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Pinchuk V.I. (1991) K voprosu o grupirovkakh vidov v predelakh roda Neogobius (Perciformes). Voprosy Ikhtiologii, 31: 380–393.
- ^ W. Eschmeyer (2015) Catalog of Fishes Archived May 3, 2015, at the Wayback Machine California Academy of Sciences (1 Mar 2015)
- ^ Neilson M.E., Stepien C.A. (2009) Escape from the Ponto-Caspian: Evolution and biogeography of an endemic goby species flock (Benthophilinae: Gobiidae: Teleostei). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 52(1): 84-102.[1]
External links
edit- Neogobiin research at the University of Toledo, Ohio
- Systematics of the Neogobiin Gobies Research project at U Toledo