Gobiidae

[Richard Pyle]

> Does anybody know the actual number of Gobiidae genera and species?

The short answer is: No, nobody knows the actual number of gobiid genera and
species, because it's a moving target.  New species are being discovered and
described with some regularity, and many (dozens? hundreds?) are under
study, but not yet formally described.

According to Nelson's 3rd edition of "Fishes of the World" (1994), there are
"About 212 genera and roughly 1,875 species." -- which is also the number
you'll find at FishBase (likely not a confirmation of the numbers, but
rather a repetition).  These numbers have certainly changed in the past 8
years.

Eschmeyer's online version of the "Catalog of Fishes"
(http://www.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatsearch.html),
which was updated April 2001, shows 481 nominal Genera and 2,355 niminal
species. I've forwarded your note to Bill Eschmeyer and asked for his
estimate of the number of genera and species currently recognized as valid.
Jack Randall deferred to Bill. If you need more detailed or accurate
numbers, I can put you in touch with several of the principal goby
taxonomists (note, those are human taxonomists who study gobies, not little
fishes who study their own genealogy.....  :-)  )

Aloha,
Rich