Tidewater goby
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| Eucyclogobius newberryi Girard, 1854 |
The tidewater goby Eucyclogobius newberryi is a goby (Gobiidae) native to lagoons of streams along the coast of California. It is the sole member of its genus.
A small fish, only rarely longer than 5 cm (2 in), it is elongate with a blunt tail. Color is a mottled gray, brown, or olive; living fish are somewhat translucent. The upper part of the first dorsal fin is clear or cream-colored, while the second dorsal is longer than the first, and close in size to the anal fin. The large mouth extends back past the posterior edge of the eye, and is angled upwards. Unusually among gobies, the scales are cycloid instead of ctenoid; they are always absent from the head, and often from the underside too.
Despite the common name, this goby inhabits lagoons formed by streams running into the sea. The lagoons are blocked from the Pacific Ocean by sand bars, admitting salt water only during particular seasons, and so their water is brackish and cool. The tidewater goby prefers salinities of less than 10 ppt, and is thus more often found in the upper parts of the lagoons, near their inflow. (Juveniles have been found as far upstream as 12 km.) They also prefer sandy bottoms with depths of 20-100 cm, near emergent vegetation beds, since they breed in the open areas and winter over in the vegetation.
Their range extends from Tillas Slough at the mouth of the Smith River in Del Norte County, California, south to Agua Hedionda Lagoon in San Diego County. While once recorded in at least 87 coastal locations, they are now gone from many, including San Francisco Bay.
The tidewater goby was listed by the state of California for protection in 1987, and federally listed in 1994. However, there has been some controversy over this, since many populations in its range are apparently secure, and the fish is even abundant at times. However, the fish's need for specific kind of habitat means that the populations are isolated from each other, and subject to extirpation due to various human activities, such as draining of wetlands, sand bar breaches for the purpose of tidal flushing, pollutant accumulation in lagoons, and so forth. Even so, studies have shown that it is a resilient species, and populations have been successfully restored to wetlands that have been protected.
The genus name translates as "true cycloid goby", referring to the scales, while the species epithet is in honor of J. S. Newberry.
The first description was in the genus Gobius ("Gobius newberryi") by Girard in 1854. The full scientific name is thus now: Eucyclogobius newberryi (GIRARD, 1854).
