The tadpole-gobies (''Benthophilus''), also called pugolovkas (which means "tadpole" in

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

), are 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 Ponto-Caspian fishes in the family

Gobiidae Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the ...

. They are distributed in the

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and

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...

s of basins of the

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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 ...

and the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...

, up to salinities of about 20 ‰. They typically live in habitats such as the deep waters of the Caspian (salinity about 13 ‰) and in the

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s, estuaries and coastal waters of the Ponto-Caspian. Tadpole-gobies are small fish, never larger than 15 cm, and usually smaller. Their life span is about one year. After spawning they die.

Species

There are currently 20 recognized species in this genus:Boldyrev V.S., Bogutskaya N.G. (2007) Revision of the tadpole-gobies of the genus ''Benthophilus'' (Teleostei:

). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwaters, 18(1): 31-9
[First page]
/ref> * '' Benthophilus abdurahmanovi'' Ragimov, 1978 (Abdurahmanov's pugolovka) * '' Benthophilus baeri''

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, 1877 (Baer pugolovka) * '' Benthophilus casachicus'' Ragimov, 1978 * '' Benthophilus ctenolepidus''

, 1877 * '' Benthophilus durrelli'' Boldyrev & Bogutskaya, 2004 (Don tadpole-goby) * '' Benthophilus granulosus''

, 1877 (Granular pugolovka) * '' Benthophilus grimmi''

, 1877 * '' Benthophilus kessleri'' L. S. Berg, 1927 * '' Benthophilus leobergius'' L. S. Berg, 1949 (Caspian stellate tadpole-goby) * '' Benthophilus leptocephalus''

, 1877 * '' Benthophilus leptorhynchus''

, 1877 (Short-snout pugolovka) * '' Benthophilus macrocephalus'' (

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, 1787) (Caspian tadpole goby) * '' Benthophilus magistri'' Iljin, 1927 (Azov tadpole goby) * '' Benthophilus mahmudbejovi'' Ragimov, 1976 (Small-spine tadpole-goby) * '' Benthophilus nudus'' L. S. Berg, 1898 (Black Sea tadpole-goby) * '' Benthophilus pinchuki'' Ragimov, 1982 * '' Benthophilus ragimovi'' Boldyrev & Bogutskaya, 2004 * '' Benthophilus spinosus''

, 1877 (Spiny pugolovka) * '' Benthophilus stellatus'' ( Sauvage, 1874) (Stellate tadpole-goby) * '' Benthophilus svetovidovi'' Pinchuk & Ragimov, 1979

References

Benthophilinae * {{Gobiidae-stub