Benthophilus macrocephalus, Caspian tadpole goby

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Benthophilus macrocephalus (Pallas, 1787)

Caspian tadpole goby
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drawing shows typical species in Gobiidae.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gobiiformes (Gobies) > Gobiidae (Gobies) > Gobiinae
Etymology: Benthophilus: Greek, benthos = depth of the sea + Greek, phyle, that loves (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Pallas.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal; depth range 0 - 25 m (Ref. 59043). Temperate; 4°C - 20°C (Ref. 2059); 51°N - 38°N, 45°E - 57°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Europe and Asia: Caspian Sea, along most coasts; Volga up to Astrakhan.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.6 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2058)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: tubercles larger than granules, tubercles of equal size in dorsal row 24-26, ventral row 21-22, upper lateral row up to 20 but the lower one is usually absent; numerous granules, densely set and appearing as small spines covering head, back, flanks and caudal peduncle; a semicircular patch of granules along upper eye margin; chin barbel thick and conical; D1 III-IV; body plain grey (Ref. 59043).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits shallow coastal waters and estuaries usually 0.5-10 m deep, over mud bottom; also in lower reaches or rivers. It is widely distributed but rare. During warm seasons, it prefers coastal waters; in northern Caspian Sea, it moves to deeper waters (20-25) in winter. This species lives for about a year. it forms schools during spawning season (April-July) over hard bottom with mollusc shells where females lay eggs in at least two portions. Feeds mostly on molluscs and fish (small gobies), also worms and crustaceans. (Ref.59043). Males are larger than females. Mature males become completely naked (Ref. 2058).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Berg, L.S., 1965. Freshwater fishes of the U.S.S.R. and adjacent countries. volume 3, 4th edition. Israel Program for Scientific Translations Ltd, Jerusalem. (Russian version published 1949). (Ref. 2058)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 January 2008

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
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Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00708 (0.00333 - 0.01504), b=3.09 (2.92 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).