Eleotridae

Like the true gobies, they are generally small fish that live on the substrate, often amongst vegetation, in burrows, or in crevices within rocks and coral reefs. Although goby-like in many ways, sleeper gobies lack the pelvic fin sucker and that, together with other morphological differences, is used to distinguish the two families. The Gobiidae and Eleotridae likely share a common ancestor and they are both placed in the order Gobiiformes, along with a few other small families containing goby-like fishes.

Dormitator and Eleotris, two of the most widespread and typical genera, include a variety of species that inhabit marine, estuarine and freshwater habitats. Among the largest members of the family are predatory species such as the bigmouth sleeper (Gobiomorus dormitor) at up to 90 cm (3.0 ft) from freshwater near the West Atlantic region. However, most are much smaller, such as the fresh- and brackish-water species from Australia and New Guinea, including Hypseleotris, known locally as gudgeons (not to be confused with the Eurasian freshwater cyprinid Gobio gobio, also known as the gudgeon and after which the Australian sleeper gobies were likely named). A few of these, such as the empire gudgeon (H. compressa) and peacock gudgeon (Tateurndina ocellicauda), are sometimes kept in aquariums. The smallest in the family are the Amazonian Leptophilypnion with a standard length of less than 1 cm (0.4 in).

Taxonomy

The family has been divided into three subfamilies: Butinae, Eleotrinae and Milyeringinae. However, because of the deep divergence between the three, some authorities have recommended splitting them into separate families: Butidae, Eleotridae and Milyeringidae. The 5th edition of Fishes of the World follows this classification and this means that the following genera are currently included within the Eleotridae. However, the family Xenisthmidae is regarded as a synonym of the Eleotridae, according to the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World.

• Allomicrodesmus Schultz, 1966
• Allomogurnda Allen, 2003
• Belobranchus Bleeker, 1857
• Bunaka Herre, 1927
• Caecieleotris Walsh & Chakrabarty, 2016
• Calumia J. L. B. Smith, 1958
• Dormitator Gill, 1861
• Eleotris Bloch & Schneider, 1801
• Erotelis Poey, 1860
• Giuris Sauvage, 1880
• Gobiomorphus Gill, 1863
• Gobiomorus Lacépède, 1800
• Guavina Bleeker, 1874
• Gymnoxenisthmus A. C. Gill, Bogorodsky & Mal, 2014
• Hemieleotris Meek & Hildebrand, 1916
• Hypseleotris Gill, 1863
• Kimberleyeleotris Hoese & Allen, 1987
• Leptophilypnion Roberts, 2013
• Leptophilypnus Meek & Hildebrand, 1916
• Microphilypnus Myers, 1927
• Mogurnda Gill, 1863
• Paraxenisthmus A. C. Gill & Hoese, 1993
• Philypnodon Bleeker, 1874
• Ratsirakia Maugé, 1984
• Rotuma Springer, 1988
• Tateurndina Nichols, 1955
• Tyson Springer, 1983
• Xenisthmus Snyder, 1908