''Hypseleotris'', or carp gudgeons, are a genus of small fresh and brackish water fishes in the family
Eleotridae
Eleotridae is a family of fish commonly known as sleeper gobies, with about 34 genera and 180 species. Most species are found in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, but there are also species in subtropical and temperate regions, warmer parts of t ...
. Fish of this genus are found in rivers and estuaries connected to the tropical
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
region. They are sometimes seen in the
aquarium
An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...
trade; especially ''H. compressa''.
''Hypseleotris'' species are opportunistic predators, feeding on zooplankton, small crustaceans and other benthic invertebrates. Mostly pelagic, ''Hypseleotris'' often aggregate in small schools but become territorial during breeding, which typically occurs in spring.
Species
''Hypseleotris'' is made up of 23 species divided into 3 major clades. The most basal clade contains 6 isolated species of
euryhaline
Euryhaline organisms are able to adapt to a wide range of salinities. An example of a euryhaline fish is the short-finned molly, '' Poecilia sphenops'', which can live in fresh water, brackish water, or salt water.
The green crab ('' Carcinus m ...
gudgeons closely related to ''H. cyprinoides'', with a distribution range extending from
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
to eastern
Melanesia
Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...
and as far north as mainland
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
The remaining species originated in Australia and would've diverged from other ''Hypseleotris'' sometime between 5 and 11 million years ago, these species are organized based on their origins in Northwest and Southeast Australia respectively. The Northwestern group is made up of 11 species which are endemic to the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
and
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
with the exemption of ''H. compressa'', which can be found across most of Australia and
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
. The Southeastern clade is found across South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, featuring 6 species and several
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...
/hemiclonal lineages which consist of a single sex, a process known as
hybridogenesis
Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertiliz ...
. The single sex species require
gametes
A gamete ( ) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as sex cells. The name gamete was introduced by the Ge ...
from the sexual species to reproduce and could be regarded as sexual parasites and in "closed populations" this sexual parasitism can cause the extinction of such populations. It is likely that this reproduction involves
androgenesis
Androgenesis is a system of asexual reproduction that requires the presence of eggs and occurs when a zygote is produced with only paternal nuclear genes. During standard sexual reproduction, one female parent and one male parent each produce h ...
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...
Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Hypseleotris moncktoni''
Australian clades
* Northwestern complex
** ''
Hypseleotris aurea
''Hypseleotris aurea'', the golden gudgeon, is a species of fish in the family Eleotridae endemic to Australia, where it is found in rocky pools in the Murchison and Gascoyne Rivers in Western Australia. This species can reach a length of . It ...
Hypseleotris galii
''Hypseleotris galii'', commonly known as the firetail gudgeon, fire-tailed gudgeon, or Gale's carp-gudgeon, is a species of gudgeon endemic to coastal eastern Australia.
Distribution and habitat
''Hypseleotris galii'' is native to the coastal f ...
'' ( J. D. Ogilby, 1898) (firetail gudgeon)
** '' Hypseleotris gymnocephala'' Thacker, Geiger & Unmack, 2022 (bald carp gudgeon)
** '' Hypseleotris klunzingeri'' (J. D. Ogilby, 1898) (western carp gudgeon)
** '' Hypseleotris moolooboolaensis'' Thacker, Geiger & Unmack, 2022 (Mary carp gudgeon)
The following cladogram represents the interspecies relationships of the genus but does not include the Australian hybrid populations.