Gobius paganellus Linnaeus, 1758
Rock goby
Gobius paganellus
photo by Wirtz, P.

Family:  Gobiidae (Gobies), subfamily: Gobiinae
Max. size:  13 cm TL (male/unsexed); max. reported age: 10 years
Environment:  demersal; freshwater; brackish; marine; depth range 0 - 15 m, amphidromous
Distribution:  Eastern Atlantic: western Scotland to Senegal. Also known from the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Indian Ocean: as lessepsian migrant in the Gulf of Eilat and Red Sea (Ref. 5299). Records from Pointe Noire and vicinity might be doubtful.
Diagnosis:  Neck naked. No black spots in the front end of each dorsal fin (Ref. 35388).
Biology:  Predominantly marine, but may enter freshwater. Adults occur inshore in intertidal waters, under stones and in pools on sheltered rocky shores with much weed cover. Macrobenthos feeder on hard substrates (Ref. 92840), they feed on crustaceans (larger amphipods, isopods, small crabs) and polychaetes; juveniles eat harpacticoid copepods, amphipods, polychaetes and mites (Ref. 4696). Oviparous (Ref. 205). Fusiform shaped eggs are found in patches of several thousand on undersurface of stones, shells, polychaete tubes or Ciona mantles (Ref. 4696).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 15 July 2014 Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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