Edit Rhinogobius leavelli

You can suggest changes to this profile. A moderator will review each change.

Name

Scientific name

Rhinogobius leavelli

Described by

Authority Herre, Year 1935, Bracketed

Family

Gobiidae

Common names

Not recorded

Photograph credits

All 22 credited

Summary

Rhinogobius leavelli is a goby ranging from northeastern Laos through northern Vietnam to the Pearl drainage in Guangxi, southern China. It…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

60mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 60 cm, Minimum depth 30 cm, Water movement High: fast-flowing river or riffle

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 20–28°C, pH 6–8

Hardness

2–15dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Territorial

Community suitability

Not for a community

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

China, Laos, Vietnam, Gui, Mã, Man Mat, Red, Xi, Xin, Zhu

Writing

Etymology

Rhinogobius: from the Greek rhinos, meaning 'nose', and the generic name Gobius.

Distribution

Widely distributed from the Nam Ma and Nam Mat river systems in northeastern Laos throughout northern Vietnam, including the Red (Hóng Hé) River, to the Pearl …

Habitat

Not written yet

Aquarium size

An aquarium with base dimensions of 60 ∗ 30 cm is large enough to house a small group.

Maintenance

Not difficult to maintain under the correct conditions; we strongly recommend keeping it in a tank designed to simulate a flowing stream with a substrate of va…

Water conditions

Not written yet

Diet

Rhinogobius spp. tend to be opportunistic carnivores feeding on a range of small invertebrates, crustaceans and similar in nature. In the aquarium they should …

Behaviour and compatibility

This is a robust species but it can be kept in a community provided tankmates are chosen with care. Peaceful, pelagic species which inhabit similar environment…

Sexual dimorphism

Males are more colourful than females and in most cases develop more extended dorsal and anal fins rays as they mature.

Reproduction

Some wild populations of this species have evolved a complex amphidromous breeding strategy in which adults live and spawn in freshwater or brackish streams an…

Notes

This species appears to exist in a number of different forms which exhibit differences in colour pattern, morphology, or both, and it's currently unclear wheth…

This species appears to exist in a number of different forms which exhibit differences in colour pattern, morphology, or both, and it's currently unclear whether all of them are truly conspecific or not although those in the aquarium trade all appear similar to one another.

We've been unable to obtain a copy of the original description so it's not currently possible to provide a detailed diagnosis either, with most recent studies stating only that R. leavelli has more pectoral fin rays than the majority of congeners with at least 18, vs. 18 or less, plus 10-16 predorsal scales and a dark vertical bar at the base of the pectoral fin.

Fish identified as R. leavelli also tend to possess an orange blotch at the base of the caudal-fin which appears to be a character shared only with R. gigas among the species available in the trade at time of writing.

The Gobiidae is the most speciose vertebrate family and notoriously problematic in terms of identifying fishes down to species level.

Within this sizeable assemblage Rhinogobius is often included in the subfamily Gobionellinae alongside genera such as Brachygobius, Chlamydogobius, Mugilogobius, Pseudogobiopsis, Schismatogobius, and Stigmatogobius.

Members can be told apart from these and all other gobiid genera by the following combination of characters: head with four simple, longitudinal infraorbital sensory papilla rows a, b, c, and d, single cp papilla, and paired papillae in mental row f; head canal variable from complete loss to normal development of anterior and posterior oculoscapular canals, and preopercular canals, and always with double interorbital pores λ if the pore is present; body mostly covered with ctenoid scales; longitudinal scale series 25–42; head including cheek, snout, opercle, anterior part of nape as well as pre-pectoral region all naked; D1 usually VI; D2 I, 6–11; A I, 5–11; P 14–23; and V I, 5 + I, 5, forming a rounded disc with frenum present, performing two pointed spinous lobes, the spinous ray usually longer than the first branched ray; dorsal pterygiophore formulae modally 3–22 1 101; vertebrae 25–29, usually 26 for most landlocked species.

The genus is widely-distributed throughout much of continental Asia in Russia, Korea, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, plus numerous islands of the Western Pacific including Japan, Taiwan, Hainan, and the Philippines.

There currently exist over 60 recognised species with many more awaiting formal description, and a number of the described ones are only considered nominal taxa pending additional study.

Those exhibiting similarities in appearance, morphology and behaviour are therefore often aggregated in nominal species groups, e.g., the R. brunneus group, R. duospilus group, etc., for ease of reference.

The fused pelvic fins form a structure normally referred to as the 'pelvic disc', a common feature among gobiids which is used to adhere to rocks and other submerged surfaces.

Rhinogobius spp. also exhibit different reproductive strategies depending on environment, with those inhabiting rivers connected directly to the sea typically amphidromous, and those landlocked in upper reaches of rivers or lakes non-diadromous.

Many of those appearing in the aquarium trade have proven difficult to identify for a number of reasons including:

- taxonomic confusion.
- lack of aquarium literature.
- incorrect labelling by exporters and subsequently shops.
- historical over-use of some names, e.g., 'Rhinogobius wui', long treated as a synonym of R. duospilus and now recognised as a valid species.
- likely trade of undescribed species without locality data.
- mixing of species at export facilities.

Thanks to Jutta Bauer.

Editing needs JavaScript. This is the text as it was last saved.

Where does this come from?

My own experienceFor example, I've kept twelve in a planted 60 cm tank since March 2024.A website I sawFor example, an IUCN Red List assessment, a museum catalogue or a FishBase page.A paperFor example, Marshall et al. (2011), Water temperature differences in interfluvial palm swamp habitats of Paracheirodon axelrodi and P. simulans.A book, or something not onlineFor example, Tappin (2010), Rainbowfishes: their care and keeping in captivity.Something already on the pageFor example, the Behaviour and compatibility section already says this.

Web address

Paste the address of the page that says this. What counts as a source

DOI

Paste a DOI and we will look up the rest of the reference. A DOI looks like 10.11646/zootaxa.4694.4.1, and most papers print it on the first page.

Title

Enter the title of the paper, book or page. If you leave it empty, we will use the website's address.

Authors

Separate authors with semicolons, e.g. Tan, H.H.; Ng, P.K.L.

Year

Journal or publisher

Pages

Enter the page that says this, e.g. 218 or 218–221.

Anything worth adding

Describe what you saw, or which part of the source says this.

References

5 on this profile

Name

Scientific name

Described by

Family

Common names

Photograph credits

Summary

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

Aquarium size

Water

Water conditions

Hardness

Conductivity

Behaviour

Temperament

Social needs

Community suitability

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Writing

Etymology

Distribution

Habitat

Aquarium size

Maintenance

Water conditions

Diet

Behaviour and compatibility

Sexual dimorphism

Reproduction

Notes

References

References