''Ponticola'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of gobies

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

mostly to

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

s of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

region in

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

. Some

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

occur in the brackish-water Black and Caspian seas themselves. It was considered to be part of the broader goby

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Benthophilinae The Benthophilinae are a subfamily of gobies endemic to the Ponto-Caspian region (including the Marmara, Black, Azov, Caspian, and Aral Seas). The subfamily includes about 50 species. The representatives of the subfamily have fused pelvic fins a ...

, also

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the same region, although the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

'' does not list any subfamilies in the Gobiidae. Originally, ''Ponticola'' was described as

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

of ''

Neogobius ''Neogobius'' is a genus of goby native to Black Sea and the Caspian Sea basins. It is part of the broader Benthophilinae subfamily which is also endemic to the same region. Nevertheless, two ''Neogobius'' species have recently turned out to be h ...

''.

Species

There are currently 16 recognized species in this genus: * '' Ponticola bathybius'' (

Kessler Kessler or Keßler (in German) may refer to: * Kessler (automobile), an American automobile made 1921–1922 * Kessler (name), people named Kessler * ''Kessler'' (TV series), a British television series from 1981 * Kessler, Ohio, an unincorporat ...

, 1877) * '' Ponticola cephalargoides'' ( Pinchuk, 1976) * '' Ponticola constructor'' (

Nordmann Nordmann is the demonym of the Norwegian people in its native language (see: Norman). It is also a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander von Nordmann (1803–1866), Finnish zoologist * Armand von Nordmann (1759–1809), Aus ...

, 1840) (Caucasian goby) * '' Ponticola cyrius'' (

, 1874) * '' Ponticola eurycephalus'' (

, 1874) (Mushroom goby) * '' Ponticola gorlap'' ( Iljin, 1949) (Caspian bighead goby) * '' Ponticola gymnotrachelus'' (

, 1857) * '' Ponticola iljini'' ( Vasil'eva & Vasil'ev, 1996) (Eastern Caspian bighead goby) Vasil’eva, E.D., Schwarzhans, W.W., Medvedev, D.A. & Vasil’ev, V.P. (2016): Cryptic Species of Ponto-Caspian Bighead Goby of the Genus ''Ponticola'' (Gobiidae). ''Journal of Ichthyology, 56 (1): 1-18.'' * '' Ponticola iranicus'' Vasil'eva, Mousavi-Sabet & Vasil'ev, 2015 * '' Ponticola kessleri'' ( Günther, 1861) (Big-head goby) * '' Ponticola platyrostris'' ( Pallas, 1814) (Flat-snout goby) * '' Ponticola ratan'' (

, 1840) (Ratan goby) * '' Ponticola rhodioni'' ( Vasil'eva & Vasil'ev, 1994) (Riverine goby) * '' Ponticola rizensis'' ( Kovačić & Engin, 2008) * '' Ponticola syrman'' (

, 1840) (Syrman goby) * '' Ponticola turani'' ( Kovačić & Engin, 2008) (Turan's goby)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q753690 Benthophilinae