The Rhyacichthyidae or loach gobies are a small family of
perciform
Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means " ...
fish in two genera. The three species all inhabit rivers and streams, often with fast flow. ''R. aspro'' is widespread in Western Pacific region (China and Japan to
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
and the
Solomons), but the two remaining species are restricted to
New Caledonia and
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
.
Little is known about their breeding behavior, but the eggs or
larvae
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
T ...
float down into the sea where the young grow up, only to later return to the adult river and stream habitat.
They are fairly small fish, no more than in
standard length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.
Overall length
* Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...
.
[
]
Species
*Genus '' Protogobius''
**'' Protogobius attiti'' Watson & Pöllabauer, 1998
*Genus '' Rhyacichthys''
**'' Rhyacichthys aspro'' (Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...
, 1837) - loach goby
**'' Rhyacichthys guilberti'' Dingerkus & Séret, 1992
References
*
Encyclopedia of Life, Family Rhyacichthyidae
Gobiiformes
{{Gobiiformes-stub