Aphia minuta (Risso, 1810)
Transparent goby
Aphia minuta
photo by Svensen, E.

Family:  Gobiidae (Gobies), subfamily: Gobiinae
Max. size:  7.9 cm TL (male/unsexed); max. reported age: 1 years
Environment:  pelagic-neritic; brackish; marine; depth range 0 - 97 m, oceanodromous
Distribution:  Atlantic Ocean: Trondheim to Morocco. Also known from the Mediterranean including Black Sea and the Azov Sea (Ref. 57814).
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 4-6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11-13; Anal spines: 1-1; Anal soft rays: 11-15. Transparent body, more or less reddish, with chromatophores along bases of median fins and on head. Vertebrae 26-28 (Ref. 232). Males with longer dorsal and anal fins than females (Ref. 35388).
Biology:  Benthic and free swimming (Ref. 92840). A neotenic, pelagic species inhabiting inshore and estuarine waters, over sand, mud and eel-grass (Ref. 4343). Adults feed on zooplankton, especially copepods, cirripede larvae and mysids (Ref. 4343). They spawn in summer in empty bivalve shells (Ref. 35388). Probably migrate to deeper water to spawn during summer (Ref. 57814). Adults die after breeding (Ref. 4696) which does not qualify as a manifestation of semelparity but abbreviate iteroparity according to a recent study (Ref. 81039). Eggs are pear-shaped (Ref. 4696).
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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