Order GOBIESOCIFORMES (Clingfishes)

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v. 16.0 – 10 Jan. 2024   view/download PDF

Family GOBIESOCIDAE Clingfishes
52 genera · 195 species/subspecies

Subfamily DIPLOCREPINAE

Diplocrepis Günther 1861    diplo-, twofold; crepis, shoe, slipper or sandal, allusion not explained; since ventral (or pelvic) fins are homologous to the feet of terrestrial vertebrates (and often referred to as feet, e.g., pous, in fish names), name may refer to the double-type adhesive disc (modified ventral fins and adjacent tissue) of this genus, figuratively serving as a pair of shoes for the fish (Günther also used crepis for a related genus, Crepidogaster, “shoe belly,” preoccupied in beetles, replaced by Aspasmogaster)

Diplocrepis puniceus (Richardson 1846)    reddish, referring to “pure red” color, very pale on same parts and more intense in others, “after long maceration in spirits”


Subfamily LEPADOGASTRINAE

Apletodon Briggs 1955   aplet os, extraordinary (i.e., different); odon, tooth, referring to its teeth, which are “more highly differentiated than in other genera in this subfamily”

Apletodon barbatus Fricke, Wirtz & Brito 2010    bearded, referring to its maxillary barbels, which are “quite conspicuous in males, and characteristic for the species”

Apletodon dentatus dentatus (Facciolà 1887)    toothed, presumably referring to two well-developed canines on each side of upper jaw

Apletodon dentatus bacescui (Murgoci 1940)    in honor of zoologist Mihai C. Băcescu (1908-1999), Museum of Natural History in Bucharest, who collected type while dredging in the Black Sea and “kindly entrusted” (translation) Murgoci with this material

Apletodon gabonensis Fricke & Wirtz 2018    –ensis, suffix denoting place: off the coast of Gabon, West Africa, type locality

Apletodon incognitus Hofrichter & Patzner 1997    unknown, referring to how this species remained undescribed due to its similarity with A. dentatus and Diplogaster bimaculata

Apletodon pellegrini (Chabanaud 1925)    in honor of French ichthyologist Jacques Pellegrin (1873-1944), who, in 1914, demonstrated “wise prudence” in reporting the only adult specimen in good condition of this clingfish that he had at his disposal as Lepadogaster (now Diplecogaster) bimaculatus

Apletodon wirtzi Fricke 2007    in honor of marine biologist Peter Wirtz (b. 1948), Universidade da Madeira (Portugal), who collected numerous “interesting” fish species, including type of this one, in Sao Tome and Principe and other areas of the tropical and temperate Atlantic

Diplecogaster Fraser-Brunner 1938    di-, two; pleco-, folded, pleated or plicate; gaster, belly, referring to double-type adhesive disc

Diplecogaster bimaculata (Bonnaterre 1788)    bi-, two; maculatus, spotted, based on “The bimaculated sucker” of Pennant 1769, referring to round black spot on each side of adhesive disc

Diplecogaster ctenocrypta Briggs 1955    ctenos, comb; kryptos, hidden, referring to 18 very small, pointed gill rakers on third gill arch

Diplecogaster euxinica Murgoci 1964    ica, belonging to: Euxine, historical name for the Black Sea, where this clingfish is endemic

Diplecogaster megalops Briggs 1955    mega-, large; ops, eye, referring to larger eyes (in specimens of comparable size) than D. bimaculata

Diplecogaster pectoralis Briggs 1955    of the breast, proposed as a subspecies of D. bimaculata with a relatively higher number of rays in the pectoral fins

Diplecogaster roseiocula Fricke & Wirtz 2023    roseus, rose; ocula, eyed (correct Latin would be ouculata or ocularis), referring to its pink eyes [emended from roseioculus to agree with feminine gender of genus]

Diplecogaster tonstricula Fricke, Wirtz & Brito 2015    Latin for “little female barber,” referring to its facultative cleaning of larger fishes

Diplecogaster umutturali Bilecenoğlu, Yokeş & Kovačić 2017    in honor of Umut Tural (d. 2012), a “promising conservation biologist passionate for marine life” who was coordinator of the Kas¸-Kekova Specially Protected Area Management Plan and Implementation Project on behalf of WWF-Türkiye, in which he actively participated by collecting clingfish samples (he passed away after a year-long battle with cancer)

Gouania Nardo 1833    ia, belonging to: the “famous” (translation) Antoine Goüan (1733-1821), French naturalist and pioneer of Linnaean plant taxonomy, who proposed the clingfish genus Lepadogaster in his Historia piscium (1770) [originally spelled Covania, a latinization; corrected spelling, dating to 1864, is in prevailing usage]

Gouania adriatica Wagner, Kovačić & Koblmüller 2020    –ica, belonging to: Adriatic Sea, type locality

Gouania hofrichteri Wagner, Kovačić & Koblmüller 2020    in honor of Robert Hofrichter (b. 1957), University of Salzburg, whose work on European clingfishes sparked the authors’ interest in these “enigmatic” fishes

Gouania orientalis Wagner, Kovačić & Koblmüller 2020    eastern, restricted to the eastern Mediterranean Basin (southern Ionian Sea and Aegean Sea)

Gouania pigra (Nardo 1827)    sluggish or slow-moving, allusion not explained, probably referring to rudimentary dorsal and anal fins

Gouania willdenowi (Risso 1810)    in honor of German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow (1765-1812), following the example of Lepadogaster gouani (=lepadogaster) Walbaum 1792, also named after a botanist (see Gouania, above, and L. candolii, below) [often misspelled wildenowi]

Lecanogaster Briggs 1957    lekos, plate, platter, dish or pan; gaster, stomach or belly, referring to plate-like adhesive disc

Lecanogaster chrysea Briggs 1957    gold, referring to Gold Coast of Ghana, where it appears to be endemic

Lecanogaster gorgoniphila Fricke & Wirtz 2017    philia, affection or fondness, referring to its commensal association with gorgonians

Lepadogaster Goüan 1770    lepados, limpet; gaster, belly, allusion not explained, possibly referring to how adhesive disc of L. lepadogaster looks like an upside-down limpet and/or how the fish uses it to adhere, limpet-like, to stones and other objects [appeared first, without species, so not tautonymous with L. lepadogaster]

Lepadogaster candolii Risso 1810    in honor of Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778-1841), following the example of Lepadogaster gouani (=lepadogaster) Walbaum 1792, also named after a botanist (see Gouania and G. willdenowi, above)

Lepadogaster lepadogaster (Bonnaterre 1788)    named for Lepadogaster, which was proposed without species (see above) [originally misspelled lepodogaster, presumably a misprint; corrected spelling is in prevailing usage]

Lepadogaster purpurea (Bonnaterre 1788)    purple, referring to dark-red color (presumably its spots) in life; Bonnaterre based his description on Borlase’s Natural History of Cornwall (1758), where this “suck-fish” was described as “purple coloured”

Opeatogenys Briggs 1955    opeatos, an awl; genys, cheek, referring to strong, pointed subopercular spine of O. gracilis

Opeatogenys cadenati Briggs 1957    in honor of French ichthyologist Jean Cadenat (1908-1992), Director, Marine Biological Section of the Institut Français d’Afrique Noire (Gorée, Senegal), for his “excellent work” on the fishes of Senegal and his “kindness” in sending Briggs a “fine” collection of clingfishes from West Africa

Opeatogenys gracilis (Canestrini 1864)    thin or slender, referring to “very depressed” (translation) head and body (up to anus)


Subfamily CHORISOCHISMINAE

Chorisochismus Brisout de Barneville 1846    choristos, separate or distinct; [s]chisma, slot (i.e., gill opening), referring to wide gill openings extending under throat, the membranes of which form a fold across the throat, fusing medially with the isthmus

Chorisochismus dentex (Pallas 1769)    with large teeth, referring to large, conical teeth at front of both jaws

Eckloniaichthys Smith 1943    Ecklonia, genus of sea-bamboo (kelp) in which it occurs; ichthys, fish

Eckloniaichthys scylliorhiniceps Smith 1943    skylion, Greek for dogfish or small shark, probably from skyllo, to tear or mangle; rhinus, snout; ceps, head, referring to pointed snout and “distinctly ‘Selachian’” shape of head


Subfamily HAPLOCYLICINAE

Gastrocyathus Briggs 1955    gaster, belly; cyathus, cup, referring to adhesive disc common to clingfishes (except Alabes)

Gastrocyathus gracilis Briggs 1955    slender or thin, referring to slender, anteriorly depressed body

Gastrocymba Briggs 1955    gaster, belly; cymba, cup, referring to adhesive disc common to clingfishes (except Alabes)

Gastrocymba quadriradiata (Rendahl 1926)    quadri-, four; radiata, rayed, presumably referring to four rays on dorsal and anal fins (originally spelled “4-radiatus”; correction is mandatory)

Gymnoscyphus Böhlke & Robins 1970    gymnos, bare or naked; skyphos, cup (i.e., disc), referring to lack of papillae on adhesive disc

Gymnoscyphus ascitus Böhlke & Robins 1970    foreign or alien, referring to distribution in the Lesser Antilles, far from its closest relatives in Haplocyclix, known only from New Zealand

Haplocylix Briggs 1955    haplos, single; culix, cup, referring to single- instead of double-type adhesive disc

Haplocylix littoreus (Forster 1801)    littoral (i.e., close to shore), referring to its occurrence “between the rocks along the coast” (translation) of New Zealand, where it is endemic


Subfamily PROTOGOBIESOCINAE

Gastroscyphus Briggs 1955    gaster, belly; scyphus, cup, referring to referring to adhesive disc common to clingfishes (except Alabes)

Gastroscyphus hectoris (Günther 1876)    is, genitive singular of: James Hector (1834-1907), Director, Geological Survey of New Zealand, who presented type to the British Museum

Kopua Hardy 1984    New Zealand Maori word for “deep water,” referring to the “considerable depths (for gobiesocids)” from which K. nuimata has been taken

Kopua kuiteri Hutchins 1991    in honor of Australian underwater photographer Rudolf “Rudie” Kuiter (b. 1943), who collected type and provided color transparencies showing its life coloration

Kopua minima (Döderlein 1887)    smallest, presumably referring to its size, described at 23 mm (but reaches 50 mm SL)

Kopua nuimata Hardy 1984    New Zealand Maori words nui meaning “big” and mata meaning “eye,” referring to its relatively large eyes

Kopua vermiculata Shinohara & Katayama 2015    vermiculate (wormy), referring to shape of markings on body

Kopua yoko Fujiwara, Okamoto & Motomura 2018    named for the Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute research vessel Yoko-maru, from which type was collected

Protogobiesox Fricke, Chen & Chen 2016    protos, first; Gobiesox, type genus of family, referring to how its rudimentary pelvic fins resemble the putative ancestral form of clingfishes

Protogobiesox asymmetricus Fricke, Chen & Chen 2016    named for unusual asymmetry of head and body (rare in fishes)


Subfamily CHEILOBRANCHINAE Shore-Eels
cheilos, lip; branchus, gill, from Cheilobranchus Richardson 1845 (now a junior synonym of Alabes), referring to “little role or lip on the hinder edge” of gill opening of A. dorsalis

Alabes Cloquet 1816    Greek word for a fish of the Nile so slippery that it cannot be grasped (i.e., an eel), applied by Cuvier for these eel-like fishes in a manuscript name first published by Cloquet

Alabes bathys Hutchins 2006    deep, referring to its deepwater habitat (160-348 m)

Alabes brevis Springer & Fraser 1976    short, referring to reduced number of vertebrae compared to congeners

Alabes dorsalis (Richardson 1845)    dorsal or of the back, allusion not explained, possibly referring to a “straight furrow” running from head to base of caudal fin, “coincident with the spine”

Alabes elongata Hutchins & Morrison 2004    elongate, referring to relatively slender body compared to relatively robust A. dorsalis

Alabes gibbosa Hutchins & Morrison 2004    humpbacked, referring to its deep body, which usually exhibits a gibbous dorsal profile

Alabes hoesei Springer & Fraser 1976    in honor of ichthyologist Douglass F. Hoese (b. 1942), Australian Museum (Sydney), who provided much of the material upon which the authors’ study is based

Alabes obtusirostris Hutchins & Morrison 2004    obtusus, blunt; rostris, snout, referring to blunt snout, rather truncate in dorsal view

Alabes occidentalis Hutchins & Morrison 2004    western, referring to its occurrence in south Western Australia

Alabes parvula (McCulloch 1909)    very small, described at 47 mm; when first collected, McCulloch supposed it to be the larval form of some larger species

Alabes scotti Hutchins & Morrison 2004    in honor of the late Eric Oswald Gale Scott (1899-1986), science teacher, museum director, ichthyologist and pacifist (Launceston, Tasmania), who first brought this species to the senior author’s attention in 1982 when he provided a rough illustration of a clingfish he believed was undescribed; unfortunately, he never pursued his plan to describe it and his specimens have not been located

Alabes springeri Hutchins 2006    in honor of ichthyologist Victor G. Springer (b. 1928), U.S. National Museum, who, with Thomas Fraser, first reported the apparent uniqueness of this species in 1976

Barryichthys Conway, Moore & Summers 2019    Barry, in honor of ichthyologist J. Barry Hutchins (b. 1946), Western Australian Museum, for his work on Australian clingfishes; ichthys, fish

Barryichthys algicola Conway, Moore & Summers 2019    alga, algae; cola, inhabitant, referring to its habitat, subtidal fields of macroalgae

Barryichthys hutchinsi Conway, Moore & Summers 2019    in honor of ichthyologist J. Barry Hutchins (b. 1946), Western Australian Museum, who discovered this species

Cochleoceps Whitley 1943    cochlear, spoon; ceps, head, referring to spatulate snout of C. spatula

Cochleoceps bassensis Hutchins 1983    ensis, suffix denoting place: Bass Strait, separating Tasmania from the Australian mainland, where this clingfish occurs

Cochleoceps bicolor Hutchins 1991    bi-, two, referring to two-tone body coloration (reddish anteriorly, dusky posteriorly)

Cochleoceps orientalis Hutchins 1991    eastern, referring to its distribution on the eastern side of Australia

Cochleoceps spatula (Günther 1861)    spoon or paddle, referring to broad, long and much-depressed snout

Cochleoceps viridis Hutchins 1991    green, referring to predominantly green (apple green to pale green) coloration in life

Nettorhamphos Conway, Moore & Summers 2017    netta, duck; rhamphos, bill or curved beak, referring to upper jaw much wider and longer than lower jaw

Nettorhamphos radula Conway, Moore & Summers 2017    a tool used for scraping, referring to many tiny conical teeth on lingual surface of premaxilla and dentary, which are reminiscent of the radula of a snail

Parvicrepis Whitley 1931    etymology not explained, probably a combination of parvus, small, referring to its size and/or its type species, P. parvipinnis, and Diplocrepis, original genus of that species

Parvicrepis parvipinnis (Waite 1906)    parvus, small; pinnis, fin, allusion not explained nor evident; Briggs (1955) reports that dorsal and anal fins are both short; parvus may also refer to its overall size, described at 64 mm TL

Posidonichthys Briggs 1993    Posidonia, genus of seagrasses, referring to its occurrence on the leaves of P. australis; ichthys, fish

Posidonichthys hutchinsi Briggs 1993   in honor of ichthyologist J. Barry Hutchins (b. 1946), Western Australian Museum, for his “excellent work” on Australian clingfishes


Subfamily TRACHELOCHISMINAE

Dellichthys Briggs 1955    named for malacologist Richard Kenneth Dell (1920-2002), Dominion (now Te Papa) Museum (Wellington, New Zealand), for his interest in the shore fishes of New Zealand and his generosity in providing Briggs with “material of great value” for his monograph; ichthys, fish

Dellichthys morelandi Briggs 1955    in honor of Jack Munne Moreland (1921-2012), Dominion (now Te Papa) Museum (Wellington, New Zealand), for the loan of fishes he helped collect, and because of his interest in the shore fishes of New Zealand

Dellichthys trnskii Conway, Stewart & Summers 2018    in honor of marine biologist Tom Trnski (b. 1963), Head of Natural Sciences, Auckland Museum (New Zealand), who played a key role in the discovery of this species by collecting in depths beyond the reach of the first author

Trachelochismus Brisout de Barneville 1846    trachelos, neck; [s]chisma, slot (i.e., gill opening), referring to how gills of T. pinnulatus occupy entire width of throat above anterior adhesive disc

Trachelochismus aestuarium Conway, Stewart & King 2017    named for its occurrence in bay and estuarine areas of New Zealand

Trachelochismus melobesia Phillipps 1927    presumably referring to the encrusting red algae Melobesia membranacea; Phillipps said “specific name has particular reference to the rose-coloured patch [on dorsal surface] by which the species may readily be distinguished”

Trachelochismus pinnulatus (Forster 1801)    with pinnules, referring to extended, tubular nostrils with flaps that look like pinnules (Ronald Fricke, pers. comm.)


Subfamily DIADEMICHTHYINAE

Aspasma Jordan & Fowler 1902    aspasmos, an embrace, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to how clingfishes firmly cling to loose stones between the tide marks by means of their adhesive disc

Aspasma ubauo Fujiwara & Motomura 2019    standard Japanese name of this species

Aspasmichthys Briggs 1955    Aspasma, closely related to that genus; ichthys, fish

Aspasmichthys ciconiae (Jordan & Fowler 1902)    of the stork genus Ciconia, referring to a line from a well-known Japanese poem that mentions Wakanoura, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan (type locality): “On the shores of Waka / When the tide flows in, / Dry land being none, / Toward the place of reeds / The storks fly crying.” (translation)

Aspasmodes Smith 1957    odes, having the form of: “closely related” to Aspasma

Aspasmodes briggsi Smith 1957    in honor of John C. “Jack” Briggs (1920-2018), then at the University of Florida, “in appreciation of his magnificent [1955] monograph of the Clingfishes, which is a boon to ichthyologists everywhere”

Diademichthys Pfaff 1942    Diadema, genus of sea urchins, among the venomous spines of which it is “constantly seen”; ichthys, fish

Diademichthys lineatus (Sauvage 1883)    lined, referring to a light-colored line from tip of snout to base of dorsal fin, and lines of the same color under the belly and on the sides

Discotrema Briggs 1976    diskos, disc; trema, hole, referring to deep cavity in adhesive disc

Discotrema crinophilum Briggs 1976    krinon, lily (in this case, a sea-lily); philia, friendly love, referring to its commensal relationship with crinoids (especially Comanthus bennetti)

Discotrema monogrammum Craig & Randall 2008    mono-, one; gramme, line, referring to one continuous pale-yellow to white stripe, compared to D. crinophilum, which has two stripes

Discotrema zonatum Craig & Randall 2008    banded, referring to irregular brown bars on body

Erdmannichthys Conway, Fujiwara, Motomura & Summers 2021   in honor of marine biologist Mark V. Erdmann (b. 1968), Conservation International, Indonesia Marine Program, for his work on Indo-Pacific reef fishes (he also co-described E. alorensis in 2012)

Erdmannichthys alorensis (Allen & Erdmann 2012)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Alor Group of Islands, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, type locality

Flabellicauda Fujiwara, Conway & Motomura 2021    flabellum, an anatomical term for a body organ or part that resembles a fan; cauda, tail, referring to fan-like shape of hypural plate

Flabellicauda akiko (Allen & Erdmann 2012)    in memory of Akiko Shiraki Dynner, who had a “lifelong attachment to the ocean,” and whose husband Alan has been a strong supporter of marine conservation initiatives in the Bird’s Head Seascape, which encompasses Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua, Indonesia, where this clingfish is endemic [a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]

Flabellicauda alleni Fujiwara, Conway & Motomura 2021    in honor of ichthyologist Gerald R. Allen (b. 1942), Western Australia Museum (Perth), for his “great” contributions to the systematics of tropical-reef fishes of the East Indies (he also co-described F. akiko in 2012)

Flabellicauda bolini (Briggs 1962)    in honor of ichthyologist Rolf Bolin (1901-1973), Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, “primarily in recognition for his contributions to systematic ichthyology and secondarily because he collected the type specimen”

Flabellicauda cometes Fujiwara, Conway & Motomura 2021    Latin for comet, referring to bold white stripe along dorsal midline, reminiscent of the trailing tail of a traveling comet against the night sky

Flexor Conway, Stewart, Summers & 2018    anatomical term for muscles, referring to the great flexibility of clingfishes, many of which have the ability to bend the body so that the tail end comes to lie close to the head

Flexor incus Conway, Stewart, Summers & 2018    anvil, referring to anvil-like outline of Raoul Island (type locality), largest island in the Kermadec archipelago

Lepadichthys Waite 1904    lepad-, apparently from Lepadogaster, referring to how two characters of L. frenatus (long vertical fins, identical number of vertebrae) agree with that genus; ichthys, fish

Lepadichthys bilineatus Craig, Bogorodsky & Randall 2015    bi-, two; lineatus, lined, referring to two parallel bluish-white lines that extend posteriorly across head

Lepadichthys coccinotaenia Regan 1921    coccineus, scarlet; taenia, band, referring to scarlet stripe through eye to operculum

Lepadichthys conwayi Fujiwara & Motomura 2020    in honor of Kevin Conway, Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas, USA), for his recent contributions to the systematics of clingfishes

Lepadichthys ctenion Briggs & Link 1963    diminutive of ctenos, comb, referring to relatively poorly developed gill rakers

Lepadichthys erythraeus Briggs & Link 1963    red, referring to Mare Erythraeum, ancient name for Red Sea, where this clingfish is endemic

Lepadichthys frenatus Waite 1904    bridled, presumably referring to bright-scarlet streak that passes through eye towards upper margin of opercle

Lepadichthys geminus Fujiwara & Motomura 2021    Latin for twin or double, referring to two yellow stripes under the abdomen and its close morphological similarity to L. lineatus, with which it had previously been identified

Lepadichthys heemstraorum Fujiwara & Motomura 2021    –orum, commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of the late Phillip C. Heemstra (1941-2019), South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, an “esteemed” ichthyologist, and his wife Elaine, who collected type specimens and those of L. polyastrous

Lepadichthys lineatus Briggs 1966    lined, referring to pattern of yellow-orange lines (white in alcohol) extending longitudinally along body

Lepadichthys misakius (Tanaka 1908)    –ius, belonging to: Misaki, Miura, Kanagawa, Japan, type locality (also occurs off Taiwan and Viêt Nam)

Lepadichthys polyastrous Fujiwara & Motomura 2021    poly, many; astrous, stars, referring to many characteristic yellow dots on body

Lepadichthys sandaracatus Whitley 1943    sandarac, the orange-red sulfide of arsenic, presumably referring to uniform yellowish or carmine coloration in alcohol

Lepadichthys trishula Fujiwara, Hagiwara & Motomura 2020    trident, referring to three narrow white stripes on head to anterior body, including two on sides and one on dorsal midline

Lepadicyathus Prokofiev 2005    lepa-, referring to external similarity to Lepadichthys; di-, two and cyathus, cup, referring to double-type adhesive disc

Lepadicyathus minor (Briggs 1955)    smaller, a “very small” species (16.7 mm SL) that had been “unrecognized until now probably only because of its small size”

Liobranchia Briggs 1955    leios, smooth; branchia, gills, referring to smooth gill arches, the gill rakers entirely absent

Liobranchia stria Briggs 1955    furrow, referring to prominent vertical furrows between ridges on sides, a “most peculiar and highly modified species,” having little resemblance to any other clingfish, similar to the extinct trichomycterid catfish Rhizosomichthys totae

Lissonanchus Smith 1966    etymology not explained, perhaps lissos, smooth and [br]anchos, gill or ankos, bend or hollow, referring to rudimentary gill rakers

Lissonanchus hastingsi (Craig & Randall 2009)    in honor of Philip A. Hastings (b. 1951), Scripps Institute of Oceanography, thesis advisor of the first author, and who initially aroused his curiosity in clingfishes

Lissonanchus lusheri Smith 1966    in honor of Mrs. D. N. Lusher of Brakpan, South Africa, for collecting type and sending it to Smith [preferably spelled lusherae since name honors a woman, but ICZN 32.5.1 forbids such a correction]

Pherallodichthys Shiogaki & Dotsu 1983    Pherallodus, presumed to be related to that genus; ichthys, fish

Pherallodichthys meshimaensis Shiogaki & Dotsu 1983    ensis, suffix denoting place: Meshima Island, part of the Danjo Islands, off west coast of Kyushu, Japan, type locality

Pherallodus Briggs 1955    phero-, to bear; allos, different; odous, tooth, referring to a single row of compressed, incisor-like teeth in each jaw (different from patches of conical teeth seen in most other genera in the subfamily)

Pherallodus indicus (Weber 1913)    Indian, believed to have been first member of its genus, Crepidogaster (=Aspasmogaster), from the Indo-Australian Archipelago

Propherallodus Shiogaki & Dotsu 1983    pro-, before, forward or in front of; Pherallodus, a related genus, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to preopercular sensory canal openings, absent on Pherallodus

Propherallodus briggsi Shiogaki & Dotsu 1983    in honor of John C. “Jack” Briggs (1920-2018), then at the University of South Florida, for “valuable” suggestions on the determination of P. briggsi as an undescribed species and his “critical reading” of the authors’ manuscript

Propherallodus longipterus Fujiwara & Motomura 2019    longus, long; pterus, fin, referring to longer dorsal and anal fins compared to P. briggsi

Propherallodus smithi (Briggs 1955)    in honor of ichthyologist-chemist J.L.B. Smith (1897-1968), Rhodes University (Grahamstown, South Africa), who “kindly” sent specimens of rare clingfishes to Briggs; “It is fitting that this African species be named after one who has contributed so much to the ichthyology of the area.”

Unguitrema Fricke 2014    unguis, claw, referring to unusual short claw-like appendages within some disc papillae; trema, referring to Discotrema, a similar genus

Unguitrema nigrum Fricke 2014    black, referring to jet-black color of head, eyes, body, belly, and fins in life


Subfamily GOBIESOCINAE

Acyrtops Schultz 1951    ops, appearance, referring to similarity to (and previous confusion with) Acyrtus

Acyrtops amplicirrus Briggs 1955    amplus, large; cirrus, curl or tendril (but in this case, per Briggs, meaning crest), referring to large crest on border of anterior nostril

Acyrtops beryllinus (Hildebrand & Ginsburg 1927)    like the mineral beryl, referring to bright emerald-green color in life

Acyrtus Schultz 1944    a-, without; kyrtos, curved, referring to what Schultz believed was the absence of a dorsal curve on premaxillary groove (a trait common to all American clingfishes except Rimicola) over snout of A. rubiginosus, which he mistakenly treated as a senior synonym of Gobiesox beryllinus; Schultz corrected his error in 1951 by proposing Acyrtops for G. rubiginosus, thereby creating in Acyrtus a genus whose name refers to a character it does not possess

Acyrtus artius Briggs 1955    perfect, referring to presence of papillae in “disc region C” (unlike A. rubiginosus)

Acyrtus arturo Tavera, Rojas-Vélez & Londoño-Cruz 2021    in honor of marine biologist Arturo Acero Pizarro (b. 1954), Universidad Nacional de Colombia, for his contributions to the knowledge of neotropical fishes, and for mentoring many generations of ichthyologists, including the senior author [a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]

Acyrtus lanthanum Conway, Baldwin & White 2014    to lie hidden or escape notice, referring to how it had previously been confused with a close relative, A. artius

Acyrtus pauciradiatus Sampaio, de Anchieta, Nunes & Mendes 2004    paucus, few; radiatus, rayed, referring to fewer dorsal-, anal- and pectoral-fin rays compared to congeners

Acyrtus rubiginosus (Poey 1868)    rusty, referring to its reddish color (also has a red border around eyes)

Acyrtus simon Gasparini & Pinheiro 2022     in honor of “ichthyologist friend” Thiony Emanuel Simon, “who dedicated his career to study reef fishes, especially the fish biodiversity of the Vitória-Trindade Chain” (western Atlantic), where this clingfish occurs [a noun in apposition, without the patronymic “i”]

Arcos Schultz 1944    bow, referring to arched groove at tip of snout

Arcos decoris Briggs 1969    ornamented, elegant or beautiful, allusion not explained, described as “very pale and translucent with no signs of pigmentation” in alcohol

Arcos erythrops (Jordan & Gilbert 1882)    erythros, red; ops, eye, referring to eyes “intensely cherry red, their upper border blackish”

Arcos nudus (Linnaeus 1758)    bare or naked, referring to smooth, scaleless body (a trait common to all clingfishes), compared to the Lumpfish, Cyclopterus lumpus, its presumed congener at the time

Arcos poecilophthalmos (Jenyns 1842)    poecilio-, varicolored; ophthalmos, eye, referring to traces of blue and golden pink in iris of type specimen in spirits, which must have been “very brilliant” in life

Arcos rhodospilus (Günther 1864)    rhodo-, rosy; spilos, spot, referring to dark-rose transverse spots, each having an edge of deep-red dots, on a rose-colored body

Derilissus Briggs 1969    dere, neck or throat; lissos, smooth or polished, referring to absence of gill-membrane fold across throat of D. nanus

Derilissus altifrons Smith-Vaniz 1971    altus, high or tall; frons, forehead, referring to nearly vertical lateral profile of snout, forming nearly a right angle with ventral profile of head

Derilissus kremnobates Fraser 1970    kremnos, cliff or precipice; bates, a frequenter, referring to type locality, a nearly vertical slope (60-85˚) at Arrowsmith Bank, Caribbean Sea

Derilissus lombardii Sparks & Gruber 2012    in honor of contract diver Michael Lombardi (b. 1979), who collected type as member of deep-diving team in the Bahamas

Derilissus nanus Briggs 1969    dwarf, with apparently mature adults ranging from 11.3 to 14.0 mm SL

Derilissus vittiger Fraser 1970    vitta, band or stripe; –iger, to bear, referring to five scarlet-red lines on head

Gobiesox Lacepède 1800    combination of gobius, referring to what Lacepéde perceived as its “many connections” (translation, i.e., close relationship) with gobies, and esox, pike (Esociformes), referring to pike-like posterior placement of dorsal fin, near the tail

Gobiesox adustus Jordan & Gilbert 1882    brown or swarthy, referring to any or all of the following: brown body, banded with blackish; head marbled with darker brown; front of dorsal black; fins dusky with dark points

Gobiesox aethus (Briggs 1951)    of a red-brown color, referring to very small red-brown dots covering dorsal and lateral surfaces

Gobiesox barbatulus Starks 1913    diminutive of barbatus, bearded, i.e., a small beard, referring to thick barbels or fleshy papillae on lips and scattered over anterior portion of lower head

Gobiesox canidens (Briggs 1951)    canis, dog; dens, tooth, referring to large canine teeth in lower jaw

Gobiesox cephalus Lacepède 1800    head, referring to large head, wider than body

Gobiesox crassicorpus (Briggs 1951)    crassus, thick or heavy; corpus, body, referring to its deep body, 4.3 in SL compared to 5.0-6.5 in G. multitentaculus and G. papillifer

Gobiesox daedaleus daedaleus Briggs 1951    spotted or dappled, referring to dorsal and lateral sides even covered with small, close-set, light-brown spots

Gobiesox daedaleus boreus Briggs 1955    northern, presumably referring to its distribution, slightly north of G. d. brachysoma

Gobiesox daedaleus brachysoma Briggs 1951    brachys, short; soma, body, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its “fairly depressed” body, its depth 6.5 (6.0-7.0) in SL

Gobiesox eugrammus Briggs 1955    eu-, well or very; gramme, line (but in this case, per Briggs, meaning letter, mark or picture), allusion not explained, presumably referring to pale and translucent body with “only a few pigment spots in the form of small, dark-brown dots scattered over the dorsal surface and on the vertical fins,” and several such dots at base of pectoral fin

Gobiesox fluviatilis Briggs & Miller 1960    of a river, referring to its occurrence in high mountain streams

Gobiesox fulvus Meek 1907     brownish yellow, referring to nearly uniform brownish coloration

Gobiesox funebris Gilbert 1890    funereal, i.e., clothed in black, referring to “dark olive-brown to black” body color above, blackish below

Gobiesox juniperoserrai Espinosa Pérez & Castro-Aguirre 1996    in honor of Junípero Serra, born Miguel José Serra Ferrer (1713-1784), Jesuit missionary, evangelizer, and explorer of the Alta and Baja California region of México (where this clingfish is endemic)

Gobiesox juradoensis Fowler 1944    ensis, suffix denoting place: Río Juradó, Chocó Province, Colombia, type locality

Gobiesox lanceolatus Hastings & Conway 2017    spear-like, referring to its lanceolate caudal fin

Gobiesox lucayanus Briggs 1963    anus, belonging to: Lucayan Indians, who inhabited the Bahamas (where this clingfish is endemic) when Columbus landed there on 12 October 1492

Gobiesox maeandricus (Girard 1858)    meandering, allusion not explained; according to Jordan & Evermann (1898), referring to brownish-orange “reticulated streaks” all over body described as a “beautiful mesh work of black lines” by Girard)

Gobiesox marijeanae Briggs 1960    in honor of the yacht Marijean, owned by Canadian forester and philanthropist H. R. MacMillan (1885-1976), for the “many valuable fish collections which have been made during the cruises of this vessel to the tropical Eastern Pacific,” including type of this clingfsh

Gobiesox marmoratus Jenyns 1842    marbled or mottled, presumably referring to light-brown body color, “reticulated with black: the reticulations have a tendency to form three or four broad fasciae across the back”

Gobiesox mexicanus Briggs & Miller 1960    Mexican, referring to its distribution in Pacific Slope streams of Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarit and Oaxaca

Gobiesox milleri Briggs 1955    in honor of ichthyologist Robert Rush Miller (1916-2003), University of Michigan, who noted the unusual appearance of the holotype and “kindly” sent it to Briggs for examination

Gobiesox multitentaculus (Briggs 1951)    multi-, many; tentaculus, tentacled, referring to well-developed papillae on head, some of them forming finger-like projections

Gobiesox nigripinnis (Peters 1859)    nigri-, black; pinnis, fin, referring to black (or dark) dorsal, anal and caudal fins (with white edges)

Gobiesox papillifer Gilbert 1890    papillo, papilla; -iger, to bear, referring to fleshy papillae on lips and lower anterior side of head

Gobiesox pinniger Gilbert 1890    pinnis, fin; fero, to bear, allusion not explained but probably referring to longer dorsal fin (16-17 rays vs. 4-13) compared to congeners

Gobiesox potamius Briggs 1955    of a river, referring to its freshwater habitat

Gobiesox punctulatus (Poey 1876)    diminutive of punctum, spot, referring to brown body covered with black dots

Gobiesox rhessodon Smith 1881    rhesso, to make ragged; odon, tooth, presumably referring to tricuspid incisors of lower jaw, the central cusp longest [author is Rosa Smith Eigenmann]

Gobiesox schultzi Briggs 1951    in honor of Leonard P. Schultz (1901-1986), Curator of Fishes at the U. S. National Museum, for his “significant” 1944 revision of American clingfishes, which “brought order out of a group which was almost hopelessly confused”

Gobiesox stenocephalus Briggs 1955    stenos, narrow; cephalus, head, referring to “short and narrow” head with a “rather long” snout

Gobiesox strumosus Cope 1870    strumose, i.e., swollen like a tumor, referring to wide head, “produced by a large fleshy mass which extends from the end of the prominent extremity of the maxillary bone to the end of the interoperculum”

Gobiesox varius (Briggs 1955)    different, referring to its “peculiar” sexual dimorphism, in which lower pectoral- and ventral-fin rays of males are considerably elongated and swollen at the tips

Gobiesox woodsi (Schultz 1944)    in honor of Loren P. Woods (1914-1979), Curator of Fishes, Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago), who tentatively suggested this species was undescribed when he learned that Schultz was studying American clingfishes (Schultz did not honor Woods as a curator but as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve)

Rimicola Jordan & Evermann 1896    rima, crevice; cola, to inhabit, allusion not explained, presumably referring to habitat of R. muscarum, said by Jordan & Evermann (1898) to live “below tide marks,” and said by Briggs (1955) to inhabit kelp beds

Rimicola cabrilloi Briggs 2002    in honor of Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1497-1543), the first European to view the California coast; he is reputed to have been buried at San Miguel Island, which lies within this clingfish’s range

Rimicola dimorpha Briggs 1955    di-, two; morpha, form, referring to urogenital papillae, “relatively enormous” in males, their length about equal to depth of body in region of anus

Rimicola eigenmanni (Gilbert 1890)    in honor of ichthyologist Carl H. Eigenmann (1863-1927)

Rimicola muscarum (Meek & Pierson 1895)    of flies, allusion not explained, according to Jordan & Evermann (1898) referring to brownish-red fly-speck markings on upper body

Rimicola sila Briggs 1955    silus, snub-nosed, referring to “cut-off appearance” of snout

Sicyases Müller & Troschel 1843    sikya, cupping glass (or suction cup), referring to cup-like adhesive disc

Sicyases brevirostris (Guichenot 1848)    brevis, short; rostris, snout, referring to short, blunt and conical snout

Sicyases hildebrandi Schultz 1944    in honor of Samuel F. Hildebrand (1883-1949), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for his “numerous and valuable” contributions to ichthyology; in addition, Hildebrand, while working on his 1946 monograph on the shore fishes of Peru, noticed that this species was new and suggested that Schultz describe it

Sicyases sanguineus Müller & Troschel 1843    blood-red, referring to mottled reddish-brown body coloration

Tomicodon Brisout de Barneville 1846    tomikos, incisor; odon, tooth, referring to four pairs of incisors at front of each jaw of T. chilensis

Tomicodon absitus Briggs 1955    distant, referring to its isolated distribution (known only from the Revillagigedo Islands, off western México)

Tomicodon abuelorum Szelistowski 1990    orum, commemorative suffix, plural: abuel, Spanish for grandparent, in honor of the author’s grandparents, Irma Drescher and Martha and Telford Whitaker, for the role they played in his development of an appreciation for nature, and their support for his attempt to pursue that interest professionally

Tomicodon australis Briggs 1955    southern, proposed as a southern (Atlantic off southeastern Brazil) subspecies of T. fasciatus

Tomicodon bidens Briggs 1969    bi-, two; dens, teeth, referring to simple or bifid rather than trifid incisors

Tomicodon boehlkei Briggs 1955    in honor of ichthyologist James E. Böhlke (1930-1982), Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, for his kindness in making an extensive collection of clingfishes in the Gulf of California during the 1952 Sefton-Stanford Orca Expedition

Tomicodon briggsi Williams & Tyler 2003    in honor of John C. “Jack” Briggs (1920-2018), Georgia Museum of Natural History, for his “pioneering” 1955 monograph on clingfish systematics

Tomicodon chilensis Brisout de Barneville 1846    ensis, suffix denoting place: Valparaiso, Chile, type locality (but no types known)

Tomicodon clarkei Williams & Tyler 2003    in honor of Raymond D. Clarke, Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, New York, USA), who collected type during his studies of the behavioral ecology of chaenopsid blennies at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize

Tomicodon cryptus Williams & Tyler 2003    hidden or secret, referring to its cryptic coloration, which conceals specimens in their habitat

Tomicodon eos eos (Jordan & Gilbert 1882)    after Eos, goddess of morning-glow, referring to bright rosy-red color

Tomicodon eos rhadinus Briggs 1955    slender or tapering, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to more slender caudal peduncle compared to T. e. eos

Tomicodon fasciatus (Peters 1859)    banded, presumably referring to heavy, blackish (or dark-brown) bars on sides

Tomicodon humeralis (Gilbert 1890)   to the shoulder (humerus), referring to conspicuous round humeral spot, larger than eye, black in life with golden reflections

Tomicodon lavettsmithi Williams & Tyler 2003    in honor of C. Lavett Smith (1927-2015), Emeritus Curator of Ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History, for his many contributions to the systematics and behavioral ecology of Caribbean reef fishes and for his leadership of the Pelican Cays fish survey, during which most of the known specimens of this species were collected

Tomicodon leurodiscus Williams & Tyler 2003    leuros, smooth; discus, plate, referring to smooth anterior margin of adhesive disc

Tomicodon myersi Briggs 1955    in honor of Stanford University ichthyologist George S. Myers (1905-1985), for his many contributions to the knowledge of the fishes of the Eastern Pacific, and for his assistance with Briggs’ monograph

Tomicodon petersii (Garman 1875)    honor of Wilhelm C. H. Peters (1815-1883), the “very eminent zoologist … of Berlin”

Tomicodon prodomus Briggs 1955     before, preceding or early, considered to be the most primitive member of its genus

Tomicodon reitzae Briggs 2001    in honor of anthropologist and and zooarchaeologist Elizabeth J. Reitz, Director Georgia Museum of Natural History (where Briggs worked); the “museum is a university- and state-supported institution where research collections are maintained and systematic work is encouraged” [originally spelled reitzi; since name honors a woman, reitzae reflects the correct gender]

Tomicodon rhabdotus Smith-Vaniz 1969    striped, referring to distinctive pattern of narrow, pale, vertical stripes on posterior half of body

Tomicodon rupestris (Poey 1860)    rock-dwelling, “found in the hollows of the rocks along the sea” (translation), i.e., rocky surge-zone habitat

Tomicodon vermiculatus Briggs 1955    vermiculated (wormy), referring to fine network of vermiculations on dorsum

Tomicodon zebra (Jordan & Gilbert 1882   to its banded (i.e., zebra-like) coloration


Subfamily Incertae sedis

Aspasmogaster Waite 1907    aspasmos, an embrace; gaster, belly, allusion not explained, probably referring to how clingfishes firmly cling to loose stones between the tide marks by means of an adhesive disc on their ventral surface

Aspasmogaster costata (Ogilby 1885)    ribbed, referring to 10 “strongly marked vertical ridges on each side, caused by the contraction of the muscles after death, but not present in the living fish”

Aspasmogaster liorhynchus Briggs 1955    leios, smooth; rhynchus, snout, referring to lack of accessory fold of tissue across tip of snout, the region behind premaxillary groove being smooth

Aspasmogaster occidentalis Hutchins 1984    western, referring to its geographical distribution (western side of Western Australia)

Aspasmogaster tasmaniensis (Günther 1861)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Tasmania, Australia, type locality (also occurs in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia)

Conidens Briggs 1955    conus, cone; dens, teeth, referring to patches of small, conical teeth toward front of each jaw

Conidens laticephalus (Tanaka 1909)    latus, wide; cephalus, head, “its width about 4 in length as measured to root of middle caudal rays”

Conidens samoensis (Steindachner 1906)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Upolu, Samoa Islands, type locality (occurs in Western Pacific from New Caledonia, New Hebrides and Fiji, north to Samoa)

Creocele Briggs 1955    kreas, flesh; kele, a swelling, referring to swollen, fleshy pad on lower pectoral base

Creocele cardinalis (Ramsay 1882)    red, referring to “rich salmon red” color in spirits

Modicus Hardy 1983    ordinary, referring to “rather ordinary” appearance of members of this genus

Modicus minimus Hardy 1983    smallest, referring to small size of adults (up to 34.1 mm SL)

Modicus tangaroa Hardy 1983     for the New Zealand Ministry of Transport research vessel Tangaroa, from which four of the six type specimens were collected