Gobiesocidae Bleeker 1859

Angulo, Arturo, Betts, Joel T., González-Alemán, Néstor J., Castañeda, Edgar, Berghe, Eric Van Den, Elías, Diego J., Mcmahan, Caleb D. & Matamoros, Wilfredo A., 2023, Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families, Zootaxa 5376 (1), pp. 1-89 : 68

Family Gobiesocidae Bleeker 1859 ( Fig. 4L ). Clingfishes; Chupapiedras, Chalacos, Cucharitas

Description: Body elongate, flattened; up to 30 cm in length; head, wide, flattened; mouth opens at front; eyes on upper side of head; scales absent; pelvic fins with 4 rays, joined to form the rim of a papilla-covered sucking disc in front of the belly, last ray also joins the pectoral fins; a single dorsal fin (without spines), at rear of body; anal fin like dorsal fin and under it ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Marine, primarily shallow water or intertidal, few in freshwater; Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans (Nelson et al. 2016). One genus and two species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Families of continental fishes of Nicaragua, part 3; Achiridae (A), Carangidae (B), Cichlidae (C), Pomacentridae (D), Atherinopsidae (E), Rivulidae (F), Poeciliidae (G), Anablepidae (H), Belonidae (I), Hemiramphidae (J), Mugilidae (K), Gobiesocidae (L), Dactyloscopidae (M) and Lutjanidae (N). Illustrations adapted (with permission) from Nelson et al. (2016) and Angulo et al. (2021).