wormfish
{{short description|Subfamily of small, slender fishes}}
{{Automatic Taxobox
| name = Wormfishes
| image = Microdesmus carri, Larval (Wormfish).jpg
| image_caption = Microdesmus carri, Larval (Wormfish).jpg
| taxon = Microdesminae
| authority =
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = * Cerdale
}}
Wormfishes were a subfamily, Microdesminae, which are formerly classified in the family Microdesmidae and are also currently classified, with no intervening rank, in the family Gobiidae and the order Gobiiformes.{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages=752 |publisher=Wiley |ISBN= 978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ }}{{cite web |last1=Freihofer |first1=Warren |last2=Parenti |first2=Lynne |title=Perciform |url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/perciform/Form-and-function#ref1045038 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=9 April 2020 |ref=5 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409154435/https://www.britannica.com/animal/perciform/Form-and-function |url-status=live |archive-date=9 April 2020}}
They are found in shallow tropical waters, both marine and brackish, often burrowing in estuarine mud. They are small fishes, the largest species reaching only about 12 cm in length.{{FishBase family | family = Microdesmidae | month = December| year = 2013}}