Benthophilinae

{{Short description|Subfamily of fishes}}

{{Automatic_taxobox

| image = Neogobiusfluviatilisandkessleri.JPG

| image_caption = The pale monkey goby (Neogobius fluviatilis) and the dark bighead goby (Ponticola kessleri) are representatives of Benthophilinae

| taxon = Benthophilinae

| authority = Beling & Iljin, 1927

| type_genus = Benthophilus

| type_genus_authority = Eichwald, 1831

| subdivision_ranks = Genera

| subdivision = See text

}}

The Benthophilinae are a subfamily of gobies endemic to the Ponto-Caspian region (including the Marmara, Black, Azov, Caspian, and Aral Seas).Simonović P.D., Nikolić V.P., Skóra K.E. (1996) [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1996.tb00098.x/abstract Vertebral number in Ponto-Caspian gobies: phylogenetic relevance]. J. Fish Biol., 49: 1027–1029. The subfamily includes about 50 species. The representatives of the subfamily have fused pelvic fins and elongated dorsal and anal fins.Miller P.J. (1986) Gobiidae. In: Whitehead P.J.P., Bauchot M.-L., Hureau J.-C., Nielsen J., Tortonese E. (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Vol. 3. UNESCO, Paris. They are distinguished from the closely related subfamily Gobiinae by the absence of a swimbladder in adults and location of the uppermost rays of the pectoral fins within the fin membrane.Pinchuk V.I. (1991) K voprosu o grupirovkakh vidov v predelakh roda Neogobius (Perciformes). Voprosy Ikhtiologii, 31: 380–393.

The Catalog of Fishes still considers these fishes as belonging to the subfamily Gobiinae.W. Eschmeyer (2015) [http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp Catalog of Fishes] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503081145/http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp |date=May 3, 2015 }} California Academy of Sciences (1 Mar 2015)