The majority of species are tropical to subtropical inshore and coastal inhabitants, but some members can be found in temperate waters. A distinguishing feature of most gobies is the connected, disk-shaped pelvic fins, which can be seen in the photograph below. Gobies are demersal, which means they are bottom-dwelling fishes. They are known to sit quietly on the bottom and then move quickly with a short, darting behavior. Many species of gobies are quite colorful, and they are often sold in pet shops.
Gobies are typically predators on a wide variety of small benthic organisms.
There are two families of fishes commonly referred to as blennies. Members of both families occur within the Indian River Lagoon and in adjacent coastal waters. Most species have a drab or mottled brown coloration. This coloration is beneficial to these fishes which, like the gobies, are associated with the bottom of the water column. Many species live in and around rock jetties and oyster beds, but some species can also be found within seagrass beds.