Marine Fish Genera Codexery

Elacatinus

Small marine gobies known for cleaning ectoparasites from client fish.

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Elacatinus

LASZLO ILYES (laszlo-photo) from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · via Wikipedia: Elacatinus · CC BY 2.0

These fish are very small and torpedo-shaped, generally about 2.5 cm long, with dark bodies and iridescent stripes.[1] According to the World Register of Marine Species, the genus Elacatinus, established by Jordan in 1904, belongs to the family Gobiidae within the order Gobiiformes and is classified as marine.[2]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderGobiiformes
  6. FamilyGobiidae
  7. GenusElacatinus

Named by D. S. Jordan, 1904

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Elacatinus (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Type species
Elacatinus oceanops

Facts from the source article.

Biology and range

Their dorsal fin is split in two, with a rounded anterior fin and a flat posterior fin.[1] They may also eat zooplankton and non-parasitic copepods, and occasionally consume algae.[3] All species within Elacatinus except the East Pacific E. puncticulatus inhabit warmer western Atlantic waters, with a distribution spanning from Florida and Bermuda down to Brazil.[4] The northern Yucatan Peninsula is one location where these gobies have been recorded.[5]

Ectoparasites taken from client fish constitute the main food source for Elacatinus, which are predominantly carnivorous.[3] Multiple spawning events per season are typical for these gobies, with the spawning period generally occurring from February through April.[6] Males provide post-spawning care by guarding and aerating the eggs, yet once the larvae hatch, they receive no further parental attention.[6]

What the specialist sources record

The World Register of Marine Species lists Elacatinus as an accepted genus in the family Gobiidae, order Gobiiformes, class Teleostei.[2] GBIF records 105,317 occurrence records for this genus as of October 2026.[7] The book "The biology of gobies" (Science Publishers, 2011) notes that blue-striped Elacatinus species are most effective at attracting clients and deterring predators.[8][9] The 2010 University of California Press publication "Reproduction and Sexuality in Marine Fishes" identifies Elacatinus as the most highly specialized cleaner gobies found in the tropical western Atlantic.[10][11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Elacatinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: E. oceanops, Fishbase. http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3876 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. World Register of Marine Species, Elacatinus (AphiaID 269045). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Elacatinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Patzner, "The biology of gobies", Science Publishers, 2011-09-02, p. 291–307; "Interactions between cleaning gobies and territorial damselfish on coral reefs", Animal Behaviour, June 1998, p. 1429–1442; Patzner, "The biology of gobies", Science Publishers, 2011-09-02, p. 291–307 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Elacatinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Taylor, "Two new species of Elacatinus (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from the Mexican coast of the Gulf of Mexico", Zootaxa, 2007, p. 45–51 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Elacatinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Elactinus Research: Introduction" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Elacatinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Meirelles, M. E., "Reproduction, early development and larviculture of the barber goby, Elacatinus figaro", Aquaculture Research, June 2009, p. 11–18 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Elacatinus (taxon key 2376682). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  8. Open Library record, ISBN 9781578084364 ("The biology of gobies"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Elacatinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Patzner, "The biology of gobies", Science Publishers, 2011-09-02, p. 291–307 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Open Library record, ISBN 9780520947979 ("Reproduction and Sexuality in Marine Fishes"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Elacatinus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Daily cleaning activity and diversity of clients of the barber goby, Elacatinus figaro, on rocky reefs in southeastern Brazil", Environmental Biology of Fishes, September 2000, p. 69–77; Cole, "Reproduction and sexuality in marine fishes", Berkeley: University of California Press., 2010-10-28, p. 129; "Interactions between cleaning gobies and territorial damselfish on coral reefs", Animal Behaviour, June 1998, p. 1429–1442 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Elacatinus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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