The Microdesmidae, the wormfishes and dartfishes, were a family of goby-like fishes in the order Gobiiformes, more recent workers have placed this taxon within the Gobiidae, although the researchers do not define the taxonomic status of this grouping within that family.[2] Two subfamilies in this family were briefly treated as full families - the Ptereleotrinae (dartfishes) and Microdesminae (wormfishes).[3] The family includes about 82 species.
Microdesmidae | |
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Nemateleotris magnifica | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Gobiiformes |
Suborder: | Gobioidei |
Family: | Microdesmidae Regan, 1912 |
Subfamilies & genera | |
Subfamily Ptereleotrinae
Subfamily Microdesminae |
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2014) |
They are found in shallow tropical waters, both marine and brackish, often burrowing in estuarine mud. They are small fish, the largest species reaching only about 12 cm in length.
References
edit- ^ Prokofiev, A.M. (2017): New Genus of Ptereleotrinae (Gobioidei) from the South China Sea. Journal of Ichthyology, 57 (1): 158–160.
- ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. p. 752. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
- ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2013). "Microdesmidae" in FishBase. December 2013 version.