Aquarist Atlas
Aquarist Atlas · the freshwater & brackish gobies

Gobies & Gudgeons

Gobies are one of the largest families of vertebrates on Earth — and almost all of them live in the sea. The few hundred that made it into fresh and brackish water are the exception, and they are some of the most charming small fish in the hobby: the wasp-banded bumblebee gobies, the algae-grazing neon Stiphodon of island streams, the bold little Asian river gobies (Rhinogobius), Australia’s spring-fed desert gobies, the air-walking mudskippers, and the sleepers and gudgeons the trade also sells as “gobies” — among them the beloved peacock gudgeon. They reward a keeper who understands them and frustrate one who doesn’t: many are amphidromous and cannot be bred in a tank, several need brackish water, and most are micro-predators that ignore flake. This section is built to the same standard as the cichlid, cory and pleco pages — researched, cited, no Wikipedia, no invented facts.

© Adobe Stock

We cover the gobies you can actually keep — the freshwater and brackish species — and, because the hobby does, the sleepers and gudgeons (family Eleotridae) that look and behave like gobies but are a separate lineage: the giveaway is that a true goby’s pelvic fins are fused into a cup-shaped sucker disc, while a gudgeon’s stay separate. We leave out the purely marine gobies, the unrelated “goby cichlids” of Lake Tanganyika (covered under cichlids), and the invasive round and tubenose gobies that are not aquarium fish. Following the Catalog of Fishes for valid names, the Gobioidei are split across several families — Gobiidae, Gobionellidae, Oxudercidae, Eleotridae — and big genera like Rhinogobius and Stiphodon gain species often, so a fish you bought under one name may have moved. Two honest warnings run through every account: the amphidromous species (most Stiphodon, Sicyopterus, Lentipes, many Awaous) breed in fresh water but their larvae drift to sea, so they are wild-collected and effectively impossible to breed at home, while the resident species (peacock gudgeon, Brachygobius, Rhinogobius, Mogurnda) are cave or substrate spawners whose male guards the eggs. Diet is the other failure point — read each account before you buy.

A peacock gudgeon — a cream-bodied fish with blue speckling and red-streaked, fan-shaped fins
The peacock gudgeon (Tateurndina ocellicauda) is the most popular “goby” in the hobby — yet it is not a goby at all but a sleeper / gudgeon (family Eleotridae). The tell is anatomical: a gudgeon’s pelvic fins stay separate, where a true goby’s are fused into a cup-shaped sucker disc. It is a peaceful cave-spawner whose male guards the eggs, which makes it one of the few easy fish here.
A bumblebee goby, banded black and gold, among fine green plants
A bumblebee goby (Brachygobius) — tiny, banded like a wasp, and a brackish micro-predator that refuses flake and wants live or frozen food. Several look-alikes are sold under one name; most do best in slightly salty water, which is the usual reason they fade in a plain freshwater community tank.
A slender goby with an electric-blue stripe down its body, resting on a pale stream stone
A neon stream goby of the Stiphodon group — one of the jewel-like algae grazers of fast, clear island streams. Like most of its kin it is amphidromous: it breeds in fresh water but its larvae develop at sea, so these fish are wild-collected, not captive-bred, and they starve in a bare tank — they need a mature, biofilm-covered rockscape to rasp.
A jewel-coloured river goby patterned in red and blue, resting on a granite boulder
A jewel-coloured river goby — the kind of small, bold, bottom-dwelling Asian river goby (such as Rhinogobius) that drives this section. The resident species are cave and substrate spawners whose male guards the eggs, which makes several of them breedable at home — unlike their amphidromous relatives.
Two mudskippers propped up on their pectoral fins on a piece of driftwood
A mudskipper (Periophthalmus) — a true brackish goby that breathes air and walks on its pectoral fins across the mudflat. It needs a paludarium with land, warm brackish water and high humidity, not an ordinary aquarium — the most specialised keeper’s fish in this section.

Photos © Adobe Stock

226 species in the atlas

Grouped by a friendly ecology-and-region axis — bumblebee gobies, neon & algae gobies, Asian river gobies, brackish gobies, desert gobies, the sleeper gobies (gudgeons) and the mudskippers — rather than by the shifting family boundaries, though each account names its current family and authority. Following the Catalog of Fishes and FishBase, the freshwater/brackish set is large and still being written up; new accounts are added as they are researched.

Species

226 of 226 species

Bumblebee gobies · 8

Genus Brachygobius (Gobiidae) — tiny wasp-banded micro-predators of brackish and fresh estuaries from India to Borneo. Several look-alike species are sold under one trade name. Most do best in slightly brackish water; they refuse flake and need live or frozen food. Cave-spawners — the male guards the eggs — so they can be bred with care.

Neon & algae gobies · 31

Subfamily Sicydiinae (Stiphodon, Sicyopterus, Sicyopus, Lentipes and kin, Gobiidae) — the jewel-coloured cling-gobies of fast, clear island and coastal streams across the Indo-Pacific. They are AMPHIDROMOUS: adults breed in fresh water but the larvae develop at sea, so they are wild-collected and effectively cannot be bred at home. Aufwuchs grazers — they rasp biofilm off rock and starve in a bare tank.

Asian river gobies · 55

Rhinogobius, Mugilogobius, Glossogobius, Schismatogobius and kin — the resident gobies of streams, rivers and rice country across South, Southeast and East Asia. Rhinogobius is a large, fast-growing genus with many undescribed trade forms. Most are bold, bottom-dwelling micro-predators; many are cave/substrate spawners with a guarding male, and several are temperate (not tropical) fish.

Brackish gobies · 32

The knight goby Stigmatogobius sadanundio plus Awaous, Stenogobius, Pseudogobius and kin — gobies of estuaries, mangroves and tidal rivers that want measurable salt. The salinity is the usual reason they fail in a plain freshwater tank. Diet is largely small live and frozen foods; some grow larger than the typical aquarium goby.

Desert gobies · 6

Genus Chlamydogobius — the hardy desert gobies of Australia's arid-zone springs, bores and salt lakes (the famous Lake Eyre desert goby C. eremius and its relatives). They tolerate extremes of temperature and salinity, breed readily as cave-spawners with a guarding male, and are among the easiest fish in this section.

Sleeper gobies (gudgeons) · 75

Family Eleotridae / Butidae — the sleepers and gudgeons, a sister lineage to the true gobies with SEPARATE pelvic fins (not the fused sucker disc). The hobby sells them as gobies. Includes the most popular fish here, the peacock gudgeon (Tateurndina ocellicauda), plus Mogurnda, Dormitator, Oxyeleotris and Hypseleotris. Mostly resident cave/substrate spawners with male egg-guarding; some sleepers reach a large, predatory size.

Mudskippers · 19

Subfamily Oxudercinae (Periophthalmus, Boleophthalmus, Periophthalmodon, Scartelaos) — the amphibious brackish gobies of tropical mudflats and mangroves. They breathe air, walk on their pectoral fins and need a PALUDARIUM with land, warm brackish water and high humidity, not an ordinary aquarium. The most specialised keeper's fish in this section.

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