''Stiphodon'' 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. They inhabit swift, clear streams close to the sea and are found in large parts of

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 ...

and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

. Many of the 36 currently recognized species have extremely restricted distributions on single islands or even single streams. These are small gobies with bodies squarish in cross section. A female of '' Stiphodon multisquamus'' with a

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

of 60.4 mm is the largest ''Stiphodon'' individual on record. Males of ''Stiphodon'' species are often vividly colored and a few species are occasionally sold in the

aquarium trade Fishkeeping is a popular hobby, practiced by aquarists, concerned with keeping fish in a home aquarium or garden pond. It is a practice that encompasses the art of maintaining one's own aquatic ecosystem, featuring a lot of variety with various ...

, including '' Stiphodon ornatus'', '' Stiphodon atropurpureus'', '' Stiphodon maculidorsalis'', '' Stiphodon semoni'', and '' Stiphodon surrufus''.

Species

There are currently 37 recognized species in this genus: * ''

Stiphodon alcedo ''Stiphodon'' is a genus of freshwater goby, gobies. They inhabit swift, clear streams close to the sea and are found in large parts of Asia and Oceania. Many of the 36 currently recognized species have extremely restricted distributions on singl ...

'' Maeda, Mukai & Tachihara, 2012 – Described from

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

and Iriomote in the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

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 ...

, but these may be vagrant populations transported to Japan via the

Kuroshio Current The , also known as the Black Current or is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the Ku ...

(similar to '' Stiphodon surrufus''), and the species may actually be

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 and present in larger numbers in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

* '' Stiphodon allen'' R. E. Watson, 1996 (Allen's stiphodon) – Endemic to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

* '' Stiphodon annieae'' Keith & Hadiaty, 2015 Keith, P. & Hadiaty, R.K. (2015): ''Stiphodon annieae'', a new species of freshwater goby from Indonesia (Gobiidae). ''Cybium, 38 (4): 267–272.'' – Endemic to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

* '' Stiphodon astilbos'' P. A. Ryan, 1986 – Endemic to

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

* '' Stiphodon atratus'' R. E. Watson, 1996 (Black stiphodon) – Native to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, the

Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-cov ...

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

, Bougainville,

, and

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

* '' Stiphodon atropurpureus'' ( Herre, 1927) (Blue neon goby) – Probably

to the

, but possible vagrant populations or misidentified specimens have also been recorded from

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 ...

, southern

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 ...

, and southern

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Often confused with the very similar '' Stiphodon semoni'', though their native ranges do not overlap. Many other similar-looking species of ''Stiphodon'' are also mislabeled as ''S. atropurpureus'' in the

. * '' Stiphodon aureofuscus'' Keith, Busson, S. Sauri,

Hubert Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and '' beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubert of Liège (or Hubertus) (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and m ...

& Hadiaty, 2015 Keith, P., Busson, F., Sauri, S., Hubert, N. & Hadiaty, R. (2015): A new ''Stiphodon'' (Gobiidae) from Indonesia. ''Cybium, 39 (3): 219–225.'' – Endemic to Indonesia (

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

, and

Lombok Lombok, is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...

) *'' Stiphodon aureorostrum'' Chen & Tan, 2005 – Endemic to

* '' Stiphodon birdsong'' R. E. Watson, 1996 – Native to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, from

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coa ...

to the northern coastline of

* '' Stiphodon caeruleus'' Parenti & Maciolek, 1993 – Endemic to

Pohnpei Pohnpei (formerly known as Ponape or Ascension, from Pohnpeian: "upon (''pohn'') a stone altar (''pei'')") is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei State, one of the fou ...

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the cen ...

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

* '' Stiphodon carisa'' R. E. Watson, 2008 (Lampung hillstream goby) – Endemic to

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, Indonesia * '' Stiphodon chlorestes'' * '' Stiphodon discotorquatus'' R. E. Watson, 1995 – Endemic to

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

* '' Stiphodon elegans'' (

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner descri ...

, 1879) – Native to

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

, including

Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (), is a French island territorial collectivity, collectivity in the Oceania, South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga t ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

, and

. It was previously recorded with a wider geographic distribution, but this needs to be verified as they are likely to be other misidentified species. * '' Stiphodon hydroreibatus'' R. E. Watson, 1999 – Native to the

Samoan Islands The Samoan Islands () are an archipelago covering in the central Pacific Ocean, South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Political geography, Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Samoa, Indep ...

and Futuna * '' Stiphodon imperiorientis'' R. E. Watson & I. S. Chen, 1998 – Native to southern Japan, southern China, and probably eastern Taiwan * '' Stiphodon julieni'' Keith, R. E. Watson & Marquet, 2002 – Endemic to

Rapa Iti Rapa, also called Rapa Iti, or "Little Rapa", to distinguish it from Easter Island, whose Polynesian name is Rapa Nui, is the largest and only inhabited island of the Bass Islands in French Polynesia. An older name for the island is Oparo. Th ...

* '' Stiphodon kalfatak'' Keith, Marquet & R. E. Watson, 2007 (Kalfatak's stiphodon) – Endemic to Santo Island, Vanuatu * '' Stiphodon larson'' R. E. Watson, 1996 – Endemic to Papua New Guinea * '' Stiphodon maculidorsalis'' Maeda & H. H. Tan, 2013 (Orange-fin stiphodon) – Endemic to

West Sumatra West Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. West Sumatra borders the Indian Ocean to the west, as well as the provinces of ...

, IndonesiaMaeda, K. & Tan, H.H. (2013)
Review of ''Stiphodon'' (Gobiidae: Sicydiinae) from western Sumatra, with description of a new species.
''Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 61 (2): 749–761.'' * '' Stiphodon martenstyni'' R. E. Watson, 1998 (Martenstyn's stiphodon) – Endemic to southwestern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

* '' Stiphodon mele'' Keith, Marquet & Pouilly, 2009 (Mele's stiphodon) – Native to Vanuatu and New Caledonia * '' Stiphodon multisquamus'' H. L. Wu & Y. Ni, 1986 Maeda, K., Tran Hau Duc & Tan, H.H. (2015): Discovery of a substantial continental population of the subfamily Sicydiinae (Gobioidei: Gobiidae) from Vietnam: Taxonomic revision of the genus ''Stiphodon'' from the western South China Sea. ''Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 63: 246–258.'' – Native to

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

, southern China, and Japan * '' Stiphodon niraikanaiensis'' Maeda, 2013 Maeda, K. (2013): ''Stiphodon niraikanaiensis'', a new species of sicydiine goby from Okinawa Island (Gobiidae: Sicydiinae). ''Ichthyological Research, 61 (2): 99–107. '' – Endemic to Japan * '' Stiphodon oatea'' Keith, Feunteun & Vigneux, 2010 – Native to French Polynesia and the

Marquesas The Marquesas Islands ( ; or ' or ' ; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific ...

* '' Stiphodon ornatus'' Meinken, 1974 (Rainbow stiphodon) – Endemic to

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

and

, Indonesia * '' Stiphodon palawanensis'' Maeda & Palla, 2015 – Endemic to

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

, Philippines * '' Stiphodon pelewensis'' Herre, 1936 – Native to

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

, but might also be found throughout the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...

to as far as

* '' Stiphodon percnopterygionus'' R. E. Watson & I. S. Chen, 1998 – Native to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, Taiwan,

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

in the

, and Babelthuap in

* '' Stiphodon pulchellus'' ( Herre, 1927) – Endemic to the Philippines * '' Stiphodon rubromaculatus'' Keith & Marquet, 2007 – Endemic to Futuna * '' Stiphodon rutilaureus'' R. E. Watson, 1996 (Golden-red stiphodon) – Native to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

* '' Stiphodon sapphirinus'' R. E. Watson, Keith & Marquet, 2005 (Sapphire stiphodon) – Native to New Caledonia and Vanuatu * '' Stiphodon semoni'' M. C. W. Weber, 1895 (Cobalt blue goby) – Native from the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

of Indonesia to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia. Often confused with the very similar '' Stiphodon atropurpureus'', though their native ranges do not overlap. * '' Stiphodon surrufus'' R. E. Watson & Kottelat, 1995 – Endemic to Lagu Lagu Creek in

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

in the Philippines, but vagrant populations have also been reported in low abundance in

, probably transported via the

* '' Stiphodon tuivi'' R. E. Watson, 1995 – Native to the Marquesas and French Polynesia * '' Stiphodon weberi'' R. E. Watson, G. R. Allen & Kottelat, 1998 – Endemic to Ambon and

in the

and

Yapen Yapen (also Japen, Jobi) is an island of Papua (province), Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. To the west is ...

Irian Jaya New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Austral ...

, Indonesia * '' Stiphodon zebrinus'' R. E. Watson, G. R. Allen & Kottelat, 1998 – Endemic to Halmahera, Indonesia

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q655857 Sicydiinae Chordate subclasses