Ward's sleeper
Valenciennea wardii (Playfair, 1867)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Valenciennea wardii, Ward's sleeper, Ward's sleeper goby, is a species of goby native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean in bays, reefs and lagoons at depths of from 12 to 35 metres (39 to 115 ft). It can be found on sandy or silty substrates. This species can reach a length of 15 centimetres (5.9 in) SL. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. The specific name honours the United Kingdom diplomat Swinburne Ward (1830-1897) who was Her Majesty's Civil Commissioner for the Seychelles, although this species was described from specimens collected off Zanzibar.
Wikipedia contributors, Valenciennea wardii; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:21:24.195966+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Valenciennea wardii (Playfair, 1867)
- Name authority
- (Playfair, 1867)
- Common name
- Ward's sleeper
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Gobiiformes
- Family
- Gobiidae
- Genus
- Valenciennea
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderGobiiformes
- familyGobiidae Cuvier, 1816
- subfamilyGobiinae Cuvier, 1816
- genusValenciennea Bleeker, 1856
- speciesValenciennea wardii (Playfair, 1867)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Valenciennea. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Valenciennea randalli Hoese & Larson, 1994 | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| sixspot gobyValenciennea sexguttata (Valenciennes, 1837) | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Valenciennea limicola Hoese & Larson, 1994 | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Valenciennea immaculata (Ni, 1981) | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| twostripe gobyValenciennea helsdingenii (Bleeker, 1858) | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Valenciennea decora Hoese & Larson, 1994 | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Valenciennea yanoi Suzuki, Senou & Randall, 2016 | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Valenciennea schlieweni Zarei, Motomura & Chakona, 2026 | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Valenciennea zaboae Zarei, Motomura & Chakona, 2026 | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Eleotris wardii Playfair, 1867 Playfair, 1867 | synonym |
| Valenciennea nigromaculata Herre, 1932 Herre, 1932 | synonym |
| Valenciennea wardi (Playfair, 1867) (Playfair, 1867) | synonym |
| Valencienna wardii (Playfair, 1867) (Playfair, 1867) | synonym |
| Eleotris ellioti Day, 1888 Day, 1888 | synonym |
| Eleotroides wardi (Playfair, 1867) (Playfair, 1867) | synonym |
| Valenciennea phaeochalina Tanaka, 1917 Tanaka, 1917 | synonym |
| Calleleotris wardi (Playfair, 1867) (Playfair, 1867) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=219596 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:7F9CK. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.