marbled goby, soon hock, oxyeleotris (eleotrididae)

	Contents Index of fishes General parts of a fish
	Kelvin K P Lim and Peter K L Ng

Family Eleotrididae
Africa to the Indo-Pacific. The sleeper gobies differ from the true gobies in that their pelvic fins are not fused to form a sucker. Otherwise, they are similar to the true gobies in most respects. Many members can get very big.

Genus Oxyeleotris

Pelvic fins of
Eleotrididae

Pelvic fins of Gobiidae

Photo: Francis Lim

Marbled Goby or Soon Hock
Oxyeleotris marmorata
Ikan Ketutu,

Euryhaline; 50 cm; oviparous; carnivorous (large specimens are predators of small fish); solitary; benthic. Indigenous, common. Forested and rural streams, ponds, canals and reservoirs.

This large, grouper-like fish is reputedly the largest goby in the world. It is sluggish and prefers to spend most of, its time half-buried at the bottom, with eyes sticking out, to ambush prey.

It is a much sought-after table fish, commonly found in the menu of many Chinese restaurants. The Marbled Goby is probably an introduced fish in inland fresh waters here.

The Soon Hock is regularly
sold in many wet markets

Several decades ago, it was not known from inland fresh waters but occurred naturally only in brackish water habitats.

Introduction
Freshwater habitats
Fishes in Singapore
Conservation
Amazing Fishy Facts
About the guidebook

From A Guide to Common Freshwater Fishes of Singapore by Kelvin K P Lim and Peter K L Ng
Published by the Singapore Science Centre and sponsored by BP
@Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research and Singapore Science Centre