English: Clingfishes.
Genera: ± 50; 1 family Gobiesocidae.
Region: widespread in tropical and temperate regions; Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, Mediterranean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Gulf of California.
Habitat: mostly near the coast, some in deeper seas or fresh water; shelter in shallow rocky reefs and shores, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, algae beds, clinging to rocks, algae and seagrass leaves with their sucking disc; amphibious, in the intertidal zone and can survive for long periods out of water; exposed to strong currents and wave action; some shelter in sea urchins or crinoids, sometimes obligate, sometimes facultative.
ZoologyFish; amphibious, gaining oxygen from the air by the branchial surfacea, gills, skin and perhaps the mouth; some even tolerate a relatively high degree of water loss when on land; skin is smooth and scaleless, with a thick layer of protective highly bitter, toxic mucus.
Size: fairly small to very smal, 1.5 to 7 cm, up to, 12 and 30 cm long; males grow larger than females.
Color: highly cryptic, easily overlooked
Form: tapering bodies and flattened heads, tadpole-like; lateral line is well developed, but may not extend to the posterior parts of the body.
Defense: grammistin-like toxin; spine at their gill cover, connected to a venom gland.
Sucking disc: covered in tiny hexagons, consisting of many microscopic hair-like structures, setae, like gekkos; a structure on their chest, formed by modified pelvic fins and adjacent tissue; remarkably strong; similra in Gobies.