Gudgeon is the common name for a miniature barbel and a number of small

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

fish of the families Butidae,

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...

, Eleotridae or

Ptereleotridae Dartfishes are a group of fish, formerly considered to be a subfamily, Ptereleotrinae, of goby-like fishes in the family Microdesmidae of the order Gobiiformes, Authorities now consider the species in the family Microdesmidae are within the Gobi ...

. Most gudgeons are elongate, bottom-dwelling fish, many of which live in

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

and other fast moving waters; however, many can be found in still waters.

Families

– Various cyprinid gudgeons, members of the subfamily Gobioninae (e.g. genera '' Gobio'', '' Romanogobio''), are found in lakes and rivers throughout Europe. Most commonly gudgeon refers to the species '' Gobio gobio''. This is a rheophilic and schooling species that occurs both in

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

and

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

habitats across continental Europe and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. ''G. gobio'' feeds on a variety of

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

. This gudgeon is an easy fish to catch for beginners. A

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

angler caught a record 5 ounce gudgeon in 1990 on the River Nadder,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. * Eleotridae – Known commonly as gudgeons, many species in the family Eleotridae are also called sleeper gobies. Unlike gobies, Eleotridae gudgeons have paired ventral fins rather than a fused ventral fin.Helfman G., Collette B., & Facey D.: The Diversity of Fishes, Blackwell Publishing, p 264, 1997, In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, gudgeons from the family Eleotridae are widespread and are popular for aquariums. *

– Gudgeons in the family Ptereleotridae are primarily marine species and are often associated with tropical coral

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

Gallery

File:Gobio gobio.jpg, '' Gobio gobio'', the gudgeon File:Ptereleotris microlepis.jpg, Blue gudgeon, ''Ptereleotris microlepis''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gudgeon (Fish) Cyprinidae Eleotridae Gobiidae Fish common names