Gobiidae
Eyebar spiny goby
Asterropteryx spinosa
FISH SPECIES
Long-bodied Fish
Explore fish with elongated, anguilliform or ribbon-like silhouettes, and learn how length changes locomotion and foraging.
FISH ATLAS / FIELD GUIDELong Bodied FishIN THIS CHAPTER01 / Characteristics02 / Lifestyle03 / Species04 / Field notes
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01 / NATURAL HISTORY
Characteristics
Elongated body plans reduce hydrodynamic drag, allow passage through tight apertures, and feature reduced or absent pelvic fins combined with extensive multi-vertebral muscular flexing systems.
- 01Anguilliform wave propulsion
- 02Crevice & conduit navigation
- 03Reduced appendages & low drag
02 / LIFESTYLE
Lifestyle
True eels swim via full-body anguilliform waves, sending lateral bends down their entire length to push against water, allowing them to reverse direction inside narrow subterranean burrows. Needlefish and pikes maintain a rigid elongated torso, keeping the body straight until their posterior fins and muscular caudal peduncle unleash sudden, explosive forward lunges.
OBSERVATION INDEX
- Full-body anguilliform undulation
- Reverse movement inside burrows
- Rigid body ambush alignment
03 / SPECIES
Representative species
Discover representative species illustrating the ecological diversity, morphologies and adaptations of this group.
Eyebar spiny goby
Brachionichthyidae
Eyelash handfish
Pezichthys nigrocilium
Cyprinidae
Eyeless golden-line fish
Sinocyclocheilus anophthalmus
Nettastomatidae
Eyespot Witch Eel
Venefica ocella
Balitoridae
Eyespotted Borneo sucker
Gastromyzon ocellatus
Gobiesocidae
eyestripe klingfish
Lepadichthys coccinotaenia
Gobiidae
Eyre’s dwarfgoby
Eviota eyreae
Nettastomatidae
Facciola's sorcerer
Facciolella oxyrhynchus
Akysidae
Falcate chameleon catfish
Acrochordonichthys gyrinus
Cyprinidae
fallfish
Semotilus corporalis
Pseudochromidae
False Bandit Dottyback
Pseudochromis colei
Bagridae
False black lancer
Bagrichthys macropterus
Muraenidae
False brown moray
Gymnothorax pseudoherrei
Pseudotriakidae
false catshark
Pseudotriakis microdon
Pseudochromidae
False midnight dottyback
Manonichthys winterbottomi
Chlopsidae
false moray
Kaupichthys hyoproroides
Engraulidae
false Panama anchovy
Anchoa mundeola
Blenniidae
False Tasmanian blenny
Parablennius postoculomaculatus
Gobiidae
Fan shrimp-goby
Tomiyamichthys latruncularius
Ophichthidae
fangjaw eel
Echiophis brunneus
Stomiidae
Fangtooth dragonfish
Melanostomias niger
Muraenidae
fangtooth moray
Enchelycore anatina
Alepocephalidae
fangtooth smooth-head
Bathyprion danae
Percidae
Fantail darter
Etheostoma flabellare
04 / FIELD NOTES
A closer look
Why do eels and morays lack pelvic fins?
Pelvic fins create hydrodynamic drag and easily catch on obstructions when navigating tight crevices, burrows and rock cracks. Over evolutionary time, appendages were reduced or lost in favor of continuous median fins.
How do elongated fish like gar and needlefish hunt?
Rather than undulate their whole bodies, they hold their long torsos completely straight to resemble floating sticks or debris, then unleash rapid lateral head snaps or tail bursts to impale unsuspecting prey on their toothed jaws.