Updated 24 Feb. 2026
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Bostrychus Lacepède 1801 bóstrychos (βόστρυχοs), curl or lock of hair, referring to long, tubular anterior nostrils of B. sinensis, which Lacepède apparently believed were barbels
Bostrychus africanus (Steindachner 1879) -anus (belonging to:) Africa, described from Sierra Leone
Bostrychus aruensis Weber 1911 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Aru Island, Aru Islands, Maluku, Indonesia, type locality
Bostrychus donghaiensis Zhang, Yang, Luo & Ding 2024 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Donghai, Chinese name of the East China Sea, where it occurs
Bostrychus microphthalmus Hoese & Kottelat 2005 micro-, from mikrós (μικρός), small; ophthalmós (ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to its small, reduced eyes, covered with skin
Bostrychus scalaris Larson 200 Latin for of or belonging to a flight of steps or a ladder, referring to step-ladder-like banded pattern on body
Bostrychus sinensis Lacepède 1801 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sinica (China), described from a Chinese drawing (no types known)
Bostrychus strigogenys Nichols 1937 stria (L), furrow or channel (i.e., stripe); génys (γένυς), jaw (usually the cheek or lower jaw in ichthyology), referring to conspicuous dark stripes on white lower part of face behind eye
Bostrychus zonatus Weber 1907 Latin for banded, referring to 8-9 dark bars or bands on body
Butis Bleeker 1856 tautonymous with Cheilodipterus butis Hamilton 1822
Butis abdoui Keith & Mennesson 2023 in honor of colleague Ahmed Abdou, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris), for his “work and passion for the freshwater fauna of Comoros and of the Indian Ocean”
Butis amboinensis (Bleeker 1853) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ambon (Latinized as Amboina) Island, Molucca Islands, Indonesia, type locality
Butis audebertae Keith & Mennesson 2023 in honor of colleague Fabienne Audebert, Sorbonne University (Paris), for her work to “improve our knowledge on fish parasites”
Butis butis (Hamilton 1822) derived from Bhuti bele, its local name near Calcutta, per Hora (1934); per Gill & Hoese (2011), possibly derived from the Indian word buti, a decorative, circular design woven, embroidered or printed on cloth, particularly common in sari fabric, that usually contrasts vividly with the background fabric (e.g., orange, gold, yellow, red or white over a dark field color), an interpretation consistent with Hamilton’s description of its live coloration: “of a blackish colour, with the hinder fins spotted with red, and ventrals with black. There are two red spots at the roots of the pectoral fins.”
Butis delagoensis (Barnard 1927) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Delagoa Bay, Mozambique, type locality
Butis gymnopomus (Bleeker 1853) gymnós (γυμνός), bare or naked; pṓma (πῶμα), lid or cover, i.e., opercle, referring to lack of preopercular spine, compared with Eleotris acanthopoma (Eleotridae), its presumed congener at the time
Butis huberti Keith & Mennesson 2023 in honor of colleague Nicolas Hubert, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), for his work on the freshwater fauna of South Asia and Indonesia
Butis humeralis (Valenciennes 1837) Latin for humeral (of the shoulder), presumably referring to black spot of base of pectoral fin
Butis koilomatodon (Bleeker 1849) etymology not explained, probably koī́los (κοῖλος), hollow or cavity; mátaios (μάταιος), empty or lacking; odon, from odoús (ὀδούς), tooth, i.e., an oral cavity lacking teeth, referring to absence of canines compared with related species
Butis prismaticus (Bleeker 1849) Neo-Latin for variably or brilliantly colored, presumably referring to any or all of the following: dusky green body above, lighter below; yellow transverse streak on scales; blackish first dorsal fin; membrane of other fins violet with orange rays; spotted ventral, anal and caudal fins; pectoral fin with black spot at base
Incara Rao 1971 combination of letters taken from the name Indian Council of Agricultural Research
Incara multisquamatus Rao 1971 multi– (L.), many; squamatus (L.), scaled, referring to unique arrangement of ctenoid and cycloid scales on head and body and oval cycloid scales on caudal fin
Kribia Herre 1946 -ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Kribi River, southern Cameroon, type locality of K. kribensis
Kribia kribensis (Boulenger 1907) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kribi River, southern Cameroon, type locality
Kribia leonensis (Boulenger 1916) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sierra Leone, only known area of occurrence
Kribia nana (Boulenger 1901) nanus (L.), dwarf (adjective), referring to small size, described at 38 mm TL
Kribia uellensis (Boulenger 1913) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: upper Uelé River, Democratic Republic of the Congo, type locality
Odonteleotris Gill 1863 odonto, Neo-Latin combining form of odoús (ὀδούς), tooth, referring to canine teeth on upper and lower jaws; Eleotris (Eleotridae), its presumed closest relative at the time and original genus of type species
Odonteleotris canina (Bleeker 1849) Latin for canine or like a dog, referring to canine teeth on upper and lower jaws
Odonteleotris macrodon (Bleeker 1853) macro-, from makrós (μακρός), long or large; odon, from odoús (ὀδούς), tooth, referring to large canine teeth on upper and lower jaws
Ophiocara Gill 1863 óphis (ὄφις), serpent; cara, from kára (κάρα), head, referring to large scales and flattened head of O. ophicephalus, similar to that of snakeheads (Ophiocephalus, junior synonym of Channa, Anabantiformes: Channidae)
Ophiocara cantoris (Günther 1861) -is (L.), genitive singular of: Danish naturalist Theodor Edvard Cantor (1809-1860), who reported this species as Eleotris porocephalus (=O. porocephalum) in 1849
Ophiocara gigas Kobayashi & Sato 2023 gígas (γίγας), giant, its adult maximum size greater than those of its congeners
Ophiocara macrolepidotum (Bloch 1792) large-scaled, from makrós (μaκρóς), long or large, and lepidōtós (λεπιδωτός), scaly, referring to its “distinctive” (translation) large scales [possibly a species of Dormitator in Eleotridae]
Ophiocara macrostoma Kobayashi & Sato 2023 macro-, from makrós (μaκρóς), long or large; stóma (στόμα), mouth, referring to large mouth and elongated upper jaw in adults
Ophiocara ophiocephalus (Valenciennes 1837) named for the snakehead genus Ophicephalus (=Channa, Anabantiformes: Channidae), from óphis (ὄφις), serpent, and kephalḗ (κεφαλή), head, referring to large scales and flattened head, similar to that of snakeheads
Ophiocara porocephalum (Valenciennes 1837) pore-headed, from póros (πόρος), hole or passage, and kephalḗ (κεφαλή), head, referring to four large pores along upper edge of preopercle
Oxyeleotris Bleeker 1874 oxýs (ὀξύς), sharp or pointed, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to head of type species, O. marmorata, which Bleeker described as pointed and depressed (“acuto, depresso”) in his 1852 description of the species; Eleotris (Eleotridae) its presumed closest relative at the time and original genus of type species
Oxyeleotris albooculata (Herre 1927) albus (L.), white; oculata (L.), eyed or having eyes, the pupils of its eyes “noticeably white”
Oxyeleotris altipinna Allen & Renyaan 1996 altus (L.), high; pinna (L.), fin, referring to its higher dorsal fin compared with O. nullipora, its nearest relative
Oxyeleotris aruensis (Weber 1911) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Aru Island, Aru Islands, Maluku, Indonesia, type locality
Oxyeleotris caeca Allen 1996 Latin for blind, referring to its vestigial eyes, not externally visible but still pigmented in orbit; name also reflects its common name in the Yagi (Agi?) language of Papua New Guinea, ihaaribi, also meaning blind
Oxyeleotris colasi Pouyaud, Kadarusman & Hadiaty 2013 in honor of the COLAS Companies in Indonesia, which co-sponsored the Lengguru-Kaimana expedition (2010), during which holotype was collected
Oxyeleotris fimbriata (Weber 1907) Latin for fringed (fimbriate), referring to a fringe or border of hair- or fringe-like projections on its fins except the first dorsal
Oxyeleotris herwerdenii (Weber 1910) in honor of Capt. J. H. Hondius van Herwerden, Dutch Government Navy, for his knowledge of the coast and rivers of New Guinea, where holotype was collected
Oxyeleotris heterodon (Weber 1907) héteros (ἕτερος), different; odon, from odoús (ὀδούς), tooth, referring to different placement (anterior vs. posterior) of larger teeth on upper and lower jaws
Oxyeleotris lineolata (Steindachner 1867) Latin for marked with fine lines, referring to blackish spot in middle of scales, which form numerous longitudinal lines in the direction of the scale rows
Oxyeleotris marmorata (Bleeker 1852) Latin for marbled, referring to yellowish body marbled with brown
Oxyeleotris mertoni (Weber 1911) in honor of German zoologist Hugo Merton (1879–1940), who collected many fishes among the Aru Islands of Indonesia, including holotype of this one
Oxyeleotris nullipora Roberts 1978 nullus (L.), none; pora, from póros (πόρος), hole or passage, apparently differing from all known congeners in lacking cephalic pores
Oxyeleotris paucipora Roberts 1978 paucus (L.), few or scanty; pora, from póros (πόρος), hole or passage, referring to reduced cephalic pore system, nasal pores usually absent (a few specimens with one or two)
Oxyeleotris selheimi (Macleay 1884) in honor of “Mr. Selheim,” a German naturalist living in the Palmer District of Queensland, Australia, who collected type; possibly Philip Frederic Sellheim (note spelling, 1832–1899), a pastoralist and mining official who was in charge of the Palmer River goldfields
Oxyeleotris siamensis (Günther 1861) -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Siam, or Thailand, where it appears to be endemic
Oxyeleotris stagnicola Allen, Hortle & Renyaan 2000 stagnum (L.), pool of standing water; –cola (L.), dweller or inhabitant, referring to its swamp habitat
Oxyeleotris urophthalmoides (Bleeker 1853) -oides, Neo-Latin from eī́dos (εἶδος), form or shape: similar in appearance to the closely related O. urophthalmus
Oxyeleotris urophthalmus (Bleeker 1851) ourá (οὐρά), tail; ophthalmós (ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to large ocellus at upper base of caudal fin
Oxyeleotris wisselensis Allen & Boeseman 1982 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: vicinity of Tigi Lake, one of the Wissel Lakes, Irian Jaya, Indonesia, type locality
Paloa Herre 1927 from palo, Visayan name (Philippines) of certain gobies
Paloa polylepis Herre 1927 polý (πολύ), many; lepίs (λεπίς), scale, referring to many scales (88–92) in a longitudinal series
Paloa villadolidi Roxas & Ablan 1940 in honor of Deogracias V. Villadolid (1896–1976), Director of the Bureau of Fisheries, Philippines, for his interest in Philippine ichthyology
Parviparma Herre 1927 parvus (L.), small; parma (L.), from pármē (πάρμη), a light shield or buckler, the entire body covered with “minute cycloid scales, more or less embedded and difficult to see”
Parviparma straminea Herre 1927 Latin for straw-colored, referring to its “straw yellow” color in alcohol
Pogoneleotris Bleeker 1875 pṓgōn (πώγων), beard, presumably referring to numerous short filaments and fringes on snout and cheeks; Eleotris (Eleotridae), its presumed closest relative at the time and original genus of type species
Pogoneleotris heterolepis (Günther 1869) héteros (ἕτερος), different; lepίs (λεπίς), scale, referring to numerous small ctenoid scales “mixed with large ones, the smaller occupying chiefly the base of the larger”
Prionobutis Bleeker 1874 príōn (πρίων), saw, presumably referring to bony serrated crests on snout and interorbital of P. dasyrhynchus; Butis, type genus of family
Prionobutis dasyrhynchus (Günther 1868) shaggy-snouted, from dasýs (δασύς), hairy or shaggy, and rhýnchos (ῥύγχος), snout, presumably referring to preorbital and supraorbital ridges “beset with rough prominences or spines”
Prionobutis microps (Weber 1907) micro-, from mikrós (μικρός), small; ṓps (ὦψ), eye, its length 8–8½ times in head, about half the length of snout
Prionobutis planiceps (Castelnau 1878) planus (L.), flat or level; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to “broad and flat” snout [holotype lost; possibly a senior synonym of P. microps]