''Luciogobius'' is a genus of

goby The Gobioidei are a suborder of percomorph fish. Many of these fishes are called gobies. It is by far the largest and most diverse order within the order Gobiiformes, and one of the most diverse groups of ray-finned fish in general. The subord ...

in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of Gobionellinae, commonly called worm gobies. It is distributed along the coast of northeastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, where species can be found in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

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 ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Most species occur in Japan, and several are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

.Kanagawa, N., et al. (2011)
Two new species of freshwater gobies of the genus ''Luciogobius'' (Perciformes: Gobiidae) from Japan.
''Bull Kanagawa Prefect Mus (Nat Sci)'' 40, 67-74. These gobies are unusual in appearance and habitat preference. They are small fish, about long, with very elongated bodies. The

vertebral column The spinal column, also known as the vertebral column, spine or backbone, is the core part of the axial skeleton in vertebrates. The vertebral column is the defining and eponymous characteristic of the vertebrate. The spinal column is a segmente ...

is flexible and finely segmented, with many more vertebrae than most other fish in the family; they have up to 50 vertebrae, whereas most gobies have about 26. This extra-segmented spine helps ''Luciogobius'' species burrow in their common habitat,

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

beaches. Most vertebrates would have difficulty living in gravel that is constantly stirred by tidal action, but the flexibility of the bodies of ''Luciogobius'' is likely an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

to this environment. They also lack

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

and the first dorsal fin. Two species, ''L. albus'' and ''L. pallidus'', are cave-adapted and live in

anchialine An anchialine system (, from Greek ''ankhialos'' 'near the sea') is a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean. Depending on its formation, these systems can exist in one of two primary forms: pools or caves. The primary ...

waters.Romero, Aldemaro, editor (2001). ''The Biology of Hypogean Fishes.'' Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes. Other habitat types occupied by species in the genus include

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

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 ...

streams, and in the case of ''L. adapel'', the

seafloor The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as seabeds. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

up to .Kondo, M., et al. (2012)
Spawning habitat and early development of ''Luciogobius ryukyuensis'' (Gobiidae).
''Environmental Biology of Fishes'' 95(2), 291-300. Most of the species studied

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

in the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...

, but one species has been observed spawning in freshwater rivers. The eggs are generally attached to the undersides of rocks or are buried in the gravel or stone substrate.

Species

These are the currently recognized species in this genus. There are many more

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

known that are still undescribed, for a probable total of about 37 species. The described species are: * ''

Luciogobius adapel ''Luciogobius'' is a genus of goby in the subfamily of Gobionellinae, commonly called worm gobies. It is distributed along the coast of northeastern Asia, where species can be found in Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan. Most species occur in Japan, ...

'' Okiyama, 2001 * ''

Luciogobius albus ''Luciogobius albus'' is a species of goby endemic to Japan where it is found in fresh and brackish underground waters near the coasts. This species and its close relative '' L. pallidus'' are the only known cavefish Cavefish or cave fish is ...

'' Regan, 1940 * ''

Luciogobius ama ''Luciogobius'' is a genus of goby in the subfamily of Gobionellinae, commonly called worm gobies. It is distributed along the coast of northeastern Asia, where species can be found in Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan. Most species occur in Japan, ...

'' ( Snyder, 1909) * ''

Luciogobius brevipterus ''Luciogobius'' is a genus of goby in the subfamily of Gobionellinae, commonly called worm gobies. It is distributed along the coast of northeastern Asia, where species can be found in Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan. Most species occur in Japan, ...

'' J. S. T. F. Chen, 1932 * ''

Luciogobius chaojinensis ''Luciogobius'' is a genus of goby in the subfamily of Gobionellinae, commonly called worm gobies. It is distributed along the coast of northeastern Asia, where species can be found in Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan. Most species occur in Japan, ...

'' Chen & Ren & Jiang & Wang & Chang, 2024 * '' Luciogobius dongyinensis'' I-SHIUNG CHEN, YI-TA SHAO, LI-CHIN CHOU, KUO-SHU CHEN, CHIH-WEI CHANG 2024- Dongyin earthworm goby * '' Luciogobius dormitoris'' Shiogaki & Dotsu, 1976 * '' Luciogobius elongatus'' Regan, 1905 * '' Luciogobius fluvialis''

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

Itai Itai (Hebrew: אִתַּי, pronounced: ''ee-tai'') is a masculine given name of Hebrew origin, and also a Shona name. The name can also be written: Itai, Itahy, Ittai, Ittay, Etay, Eitay, Itay, Ytai, Etai, Itaj, Ithai, or Eatai. Hebrew name It ...

& Senou, 2011 * '' Luciogobius fonticola'' Kanagawa, Itai & Senou, 2011 * '' Luciogobius grandis'' R. Arai, 1970 * ''

Luciogobius guttatus ''Luciogobius'' is a genus of goby in the subfamily of Gobionellinae, commonly called worm gobies. It is distributed along the coast of northeastern Asia, where species can be found in Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan. Most species occur in Japan, ...

'' T. N. Gill, 1859 (flat-headed goby) * '' Luciogobius huatungensis'' Chen & Ren & Jiang & Wang & Chang, 2024 * '' Luciogobius koma'' (Snyder, 1909) * '' Luciogobius matsuensis'' I-SHIUNG CHEN, YI-TA SHAO, LI-CHIN CHOU, KUO-SHU CHEN, CHIH-WEI CHANG 2024 - Matsu earthworm goby * ''

Luciogobius newtaipeiensis ''Luciogobius'' is a genus of goby in the subfamily of Gobionellinae, commonly called worm gobies. It is distributed along the coast of northeastern Asia, where species can be found in Korea, China, Taiwan, and Japan. Most species occur in Japan, ...

'' * '' Luciogobius opisthoproctus'' Chen & Liao, 2024 * '' Luciogobius pallidus'' Regan, 1940 * '' Luciogobius parvulus'' (Snyder, 1909) * '' Luciogobius platycephalus'' Shiogaki & Dotsu, 1976 * '' Luciogobius punctilineatus'' Reo Koreeda and Hiroyuki Motomura. 2022 * '' Luciogobius ryukyuensis'' I. S. Chen, T. Suzuki & Senou, 2008Chen, I. S., et al. (2008)
A new species of gobiid fish, ''Luciogobius'' from Ryukyus, Japan (Teleostei: Gobiidae).
''Journal of Marine Science and Technology'' 16(4), 250-54. * '' Luciogobius saikaiensis'' Dotsu, 1957

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1062118 Gobionellinae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot