Subfamily Microdesminae

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Introduction

Wormfishes are very distinctive and highly specialised. They have a very slender, elongate body. Species are confined to tropical estuarine and coral reef environments, typically hovering over sand or mud. Currently, five genera and 31 species are known worldwide, with two genera and six species known from Australia.

The microdesmines have not been reviewed recently, but major papers include those by Smith (1958) and Dawson (1967, 1968, 1973). Gosline (1955), Harrison (1989), Thacker (2003, 2009) discussed their relationship to other gobioid fishes. Thacker (2000) discussed relationships of the genera. Gill & Mooi (2010) and Thacker (2009) discussed monophyly of the groups and suggested Schlinderiidae as a possible relative. Recent works (Hoese & Motomura 2009; Agoreta 2013; Tornabene et al. 2013) have suggested that the group is highly specialised and more closely related to Parioglossus and Pterocerdale than to other ptereleotrines; it may eventually be regarded only as a tribe within the Gobiidae.

 

General References

Agorreta, A., San Mauro, D., Schliewen, U., Van Tassell, J.L., Kovačić, M., Zardoya, R. & Rüber, L. 2013. Molecular phylogenetics of Gobioidei and phylogenetic placement of European gobies. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69(3): 619–633

Dawson, C.E. 1967. Paragunnellichthys seychellensis, a new genus and species of gobioid fish (Microdesmidae) from the western Indian Ocean. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 80(13): 73-81 figs 1-5

Dawson, C.E. 1968. Two new wormfishes (Gobioidea : Microdesmidae) from the Indian Ocean. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 81(8): 53-68 figs 1-5

Dawson, C.E. 1973. Indo-Pacific distribution of microdesmid fishes (Gobioidea). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India 15(1): 318-322 figs 1-3 pls 1-2

Gill, A.C. & Mooi, R.D. 2010. Character evidence for the monophyly of the Microdesminae, with comments on relationships to Schindleria (Teleostei: Gobioidei: Gobiidae). Zootaxa 2442: 51–59

Gosline, W.A. 1955. The osteology and relationships of certain gobioid fishes, with particular reference to the genera Kraemeria and Microdesmus. Pacific Science 9: 158-170

Harrison, I.J. 1989. Specialization of the gobioid palatopterygoquadrate complex and its relevance to gobioid systematics. Journal of Natural History 23: 325-353

Hoese, D.F. & Motomura, H. 2009. Descriptions of two new genera and species of ptereleotrine fishes from Australia and Japan (Teleostei: Gobioidei) with discussion of possible relationships. Zootaxa 2312: 49-59

Smith, J.L.B. 1958. The gunnellichthid fishes with description of two new species from East Africa and of Gunnelichthys (Clarkichthys) bilineatus (Clark) 1936. Ichthyological Bulletin, Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 9: 123-129 figs 1-2

Thacker, C. 2000. Phylogeny of the wormfishes (Teleostei: Gobioidei: Microdesmidae). Copeia 2000(4): 940-957

Thacker, C.E. 2003. Molecular phylogeny of the gobioid fishes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 26(3): 354-368

Thacker, C.E. 2009. Phylogeny of Gobioidei and placement within Acanthomorpha, with a new classification and investigation of diversification and character evolution. Copeia 2009(1): 93–104

Tornabene, L., Chen, Y. & Pezold, F. 2013. Gobies are deeply divided: phylogenetic evidence from nuclear DNA (Teleostei: Gobioidei: Gobiidae). Systematics and Biodiversity 11(3): 345-361

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
14-May-2015	GOBIOIDEI	07-Apr-2015	MODIFIED	Dr Doug Hoese
		12-Feb-2010	(import)