Kopua minima (Döderlein, 1887)
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
Kopua minima, the Japanese deepwater clingfish, is a clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae, found in the Northwest Pacific, the East China Sea and Japan. This species reaches a length of 3.0 cm (1.2 in).
This species was described in 1887 by the German zoologist and paleontologist Ludwig Heinrich Philipp Döderlein from a type collected at a depth of 100-150 fathoms in Sagami Bay, Japan.
Wikipedia contributors, Kopua minima; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:56:30.559183+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Kopua minima (Döderlein, 1887)
- Name authority
- (Döderlein, 1887)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Gobiesociformes
- Family
- Gobiesocidae
- Genus
- Kopua
- 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
- orderGobiesociformes
- familyGobiesocidae Bleeker, 1859
- subfamilyGobiesocinae Bleeker, 1859
- genusKopua Hardy, 1984
- speciesKopua minima (Döderlein, 1887)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Kopua. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Kopua nuimata Hardy, 1984 | GobiesocidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kopua kuiteri Hutchins, 1991 | GobiesocidaeChordata | 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 |
|---|---|
| Aspasma minima (Döderlein, 1887) (Döderlein, 1887) | synonym |
| Kopua japonica Moore, Hutchins & Okamoto, 2012 Moore, Hutchins & Okamoto, 2012 | synonym |
| Lepadogaster minimus Döderlein, 1887 Döderlein, 1887 | 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=1804070 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:KVFBZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.