''Stenogobius hawaiiensis'', the Naniha goby, is a species 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 ...

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

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

where it can be found in marine, brackish and fresh waters. This species is not as adept a climber as are many other Hawaiian gobies and thus is not found in the upper reaches of streams. This species can reach a length of SL. In the

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a critically endangered Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family, originating in and native to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the native language of the Hawaiian people. Hawaiian, along with English, is an offi ...

, it is also known as O'opu naniha. It feeds on invertebrates such as worms,

crustacea Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

ns and insects as well as algae. It is preyed upon by birds such as the

black-crowned night-heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax'') r black-capped night heron commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and Nort ...

(''Nycticorax nycticorax'') as well as native fishes such as ''

Caranx ''Caranx'' is a genus of tropical to subtropical marine (ocean), marine fishes in the jack family Carangidae, commonly known as jacks, trevallies and kingfishes. They are moderate- to large-sized, deep-bodied fishes which are distinguished from o ...

spp.'', ''

Polydactylus sexfilis ''Polydactylus sexfilis'', the six-finger threadfin or yellowthread threadfin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a threadfin from the family Polynemidae which is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Description ''Polydactylus sexfilis ...

'' and ''

Sphyraena barracuda ''Sphyraena barracuda'', commonly known as the great barracuda, is a species of barracuda, a genus of 27 species of large ray-finned fish found in Subtropics, subtropical Ocean, oceans worldwide. In its natural habitat, the great barracuda is an ...

''. Invasive alien fish such as mosquito fish and game species threaten the populations of ''S. hawaiiensis'' by bringing new diseases and parasites and by predating on their eggs and fry. They may also be threatened by alteration of their habitat by humans such as abstraction, pollution and damming but not to as great an extent as these factors affect other native Hawaiian freshwater fish, there is also some fishing for this species. This species displays

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

and undertakes elaborate courtship behaviours. The female ''Stenogobius hawaiiensis'' lays 6000-8000 eggs, which the male guards until they hatch, after which the larvae drift down to the sea in the current. The larvae will live in the sea for up to six months before returning to freshwater, where they will spend the remainder of their lives.

References

hawaiiensis Freshwater fish of Hawaii Taxa named by Ronald E. Watson Fish described in 1991 {{Gobionellinae-stub