''Ponticola'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

gobies Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising over 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the fam ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

mostly to

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

s of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

region in

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

. Some

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

occur in the brackish-water Black and Caspian seas themselves. It was considered to be part of the broader goby

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 ...

Benthophilinae The Benthophilinae are a subfamily of gobies endemic to the Ponto-Caspian region (including the Sea of Marmara, Marmara, Black Sea, Black, Sea of Azov, Azov, Caspian Sea, Caspian, and Aral Seas). The subfamily includes about 50 species. The repre ...

, also

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 ...

to the same region, although the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' does not list any subfamilies in the

Gobiidae Gobiidae or gobies is a family (biology), family of bony fish in the order (biology), order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising over 2,000 species in more than 200 genus, genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typ ...

. Originally, ''Ponticola'' was described as

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

of ''

Neogobius ''Neogobius'' is a genus of gobies, native to Black Sea and the Caspian Sea basins. It is part of the broader Benthophilinae subfamily which is also endemic to the same region. Nevertheless, two ''Neogobius'' species have recently turned out to b ...

''.

Species

There are currently 16 recognized species in this genus: * ''

Ponticola bathybius ''Neogobius bathybius'' is a species of goby endemic to the Caspian Sea, where it occurs in depths down to . It is strictly confined to the brackish-water basin and does not enter fresh waters. It can grow up to a length of TL. The species was ...

'' ( Kessler, 1877) * ''

Ponticola cephalargoides Pinchuk's goby (''Ponticola cephalargoides'') is a species of goby native to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Characteristics The body of adults is prolonged, not very high. Only juveniles have high and short body. Сaudal peduncle is very hi ...

'' ( Pinchuk, 1976) * ''

Ponticola constructor The Caucasian goby (''Ponticola constructor'') is a species of goby native to rivers of the Caucasus draining to the Black Sea in Europe and Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It cover ...

'' (

Nordmann Nordmann is the demonym of the Norwegian people in its native language (see: Norman). It is also a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander von Nordmann (1803–1866), Finnish zoologist * Armand von Nordmann (1759–1809), Au ...

, 1840) (Caucasian goby) * ''

Ponticola cyrius ''Ponticola cyrius'', the Kura goby, is a species of gobiid fish endemic to the Kura River in the southern Caucasus countries of Georgia, Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries b ...

'' ( Kessler, 1874) * ''

Ponticola eurycephalus The mushroom goby (''Ponticola eurycephalus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Gobiidae, the "true gobies". This species is endemic to the northern Black Sea. Taxonomy The mushroom goby was first formally describ ...

'' ( Kessler, 1874) (Mushroom goby) * ''

Ponticola gorlap ''Ponticola gorlap'', or the Caspian bighead goby, is a species of goby, a benthic fish native to the Caspian Sea basin. It is widespread in lower parts of many rivers in Iran, and also found in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.Brian W. CoadFreshwate ...

'' ( Iljin, 1949) (Caspian bighead goby) * ''

Ponticola gymnotrachelus ''Ponticola'' is a genus of gobies native mostly to fresh waters of the Black Sea - Caspian Sea region in Eurasia. Some species occur in the brackish-water Black and Caspian seas themselves. It was considered to be part of the broader goby subfam ...

'' ( Kessler, 1857) * ''

Ponticola iljini ''Ponticola'' is a genus of gobies native mostly to fresh waters of the Black Sea - Caspian Sea region in Eurasia. Some species occur in the brackish-water Black and Caspian seas themselves. It was considered to be part of the broader goby subfam ...

'' ( Vasil'eva & Vasil'ev, 1996) (Eastern Caspian bighead goby) Vasil'eva, E.D., Schwarzhans, W.W., Medvedev, D.A. & Vasil'ev, V.P. (2016): Cryptic Species of Ponto-Caspian Bighead Goby of the Genus ''Ponticola'' (Gobiidae). ''Journal of Ichthyology, 56 (1): 1-18.'' * ''

Ponticola iranicus ''Ponticola'' is a genus of gobies native species, native mostly to fresh waters of the Black Sea - Caspian Sea region in Eurasia. Some species occur in the brackish-water Black and Caspian seas themselves. It was considered to be part of the bro ...

'' Vasil'eva, Mousavi-Sabet & Vasil'ev, 2015 * ''

Ponticola kessleri ''Ponticola kessleri'', the bighead goby or Kessler's goby, is a species of goby native to Eurasia. The bighead goby is a Ponto-Caspian relict species. It inhabits the fresh and oligohaline waters, with mineralisation from 0–0.5‰ up to 1.5� ...

'' ( Günther, 1861) (Big-head goby) * '' Ponticola platyrostris'' (

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

, 1814) (Flat-snout goby) * ''

Ponticola ratan The ratan goby (''Ponticola ratan'') is a species of goby native to brackish and marine waters of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Caspian Sea. In the Caspian Sea it is presented by subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classi ...

'' (

, 1840) (Ratan goby) * '' Ponticola rhodioni'' ( Vasil'eva & Vasil'ev, 1994) (Riverine goby) * '' Ponticola rizensis'' (

Kovačić Kovačić (Serbo-Croatian, sh-Cyrl, Ковачић), alternatively spelled Kovačič in Slovene and Slovak (feminine (Slovak): Kovačičová), Kovacsics in Hungarian, or transliterated as Kovacic/Kovacich/Kovachich in English, is one of the mo ...

& Engin, 2008) * '' Ponticola syrman'' (

, 1840) (Syrman goby) * '' Ponticola turani'' (

& Engin, 2008) (Turan's goby)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q753690 Fish of the Black Sea Benthophilinae