Grass goby

The grass goby, Zosterisessor ophiocephalus, is a species of fish in the Gobiidae family. It is a Mediterranean immigrant in the Black Sea fauna. Its genus Zosterisessor is monotypic.

Contents 1 Characteristic 2 Range 3 Diet 4 Parasites 5 Importance 6 References

Characteristic

Grass Gobies can grow up to 25 cm long. The head crown, nape, throat, belly and base of the pectoral fins are covered by cycloid scales^[2]and the Gill covers are nacked. The abdominal sucker has no blades and does not reach the anus. The mandibula are protrusive, and the skin soft, with mucous. The coloration is green-brown, patterned with merging brown spots. The cheeks have round light spots. The dorsal, caudal, and pectoral fins have longitudinal brown stripes on a light background; the anal and abdominal sucker are dark.

Range

Widespread in coastal waters of all seas of Mediterranean basin, also in the nearest part of the Atlantic Ocean up to Canary Islands. Especially numerous in the northern Adriatic Sea, Venetian Lagoon, Sète Lagoon (France). Mediterranean immigrant in the Black Sea fauna. In the Black Sea it is near all coasts, especially in lagoons and estuaries of the north-western Black Sea, Varna and Burgas Bays, Sea of Azov, Sivash. Mentioned for the Dniester River delta.

Diet

Up until the age of two years Grass Gobies feed only on crustaceans after which they start to eat fish. In Tuzly's Lagoons this means they first feed on gammarids Gammarus lacustris (94%), and Idotea balthica (6%)^[3] followed by fish like the big-scale sand smelt (30%) and gobies (36%). Shrimp Palaemon adspersus play an important role in the diet of the Grass Goby as well.

Parasites

27 parasite species are known from the grass goby near the Crimean coasts.^[4] The acanthocephalans Acanthocephaloides propinquus are mos numerous. In the north-western Black Sea this fish has 13 parasite species.^[5][6] Except the montioned Acanthocephaloides propinquus, another acanthocephalan, Telosentis exiguus, is very numerous. Both acanthocephalans are Mediterranean immigrants such as their host, the grass goby. Also, the Ponto-Caspian cestodes Proteocephalus gobiorum and monogeneans Gyrodactylus proterorhini were very numerous. In the Budaki Lagoon the grass goby is a host of larvae of epizootic nematode Streptocara crassicauda.

Importance

It is a dietary item for some commercial fishes, such as the toad goby.^[7] In the Sea of Azov it is used for food by the harbour porpoise.^[8]

The grass goby is commercial fish in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It is fish in the Molochnyi Estuary, Tuzly's Lagoons, and in the Sivash.

References

External identifiers for Grass goby
EOL	1012834
ITIS	172086
NCBI	85428
WoRMS	126942
Also found in: FishBase

1. ^ World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). "Zosterisessor ophiocephalus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2.3. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/23259. Retrieved August 5, 2007. 
2. ^ Smirnov A.I. (1986) Perch-likes (gobiids), scorpionfishes, flatfishes, clingfishes, anglerfishes [in:] Fauna of Ukraine, Vol. 8, No 5, Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 320 pp. (in Russian)
3. ^ Dolgiy V.N. (1962) Materialy po biologii bychka-travianika Zosterisessor ophiocephalus - v usloviyah limanov Tuzlovskoy gruppy. Uchenyje zapiski Kishinevskogo universiteta, 62(1): 129-135. (in Russian)
4. ^ Naidenova N.N. (1974) parazitofauna ryb semeystva bychkovyh Chernogo i Azovskogo morey, Kiev, Naukova Dumka, 182 pp. (in Russian)
5. ^ Y. Kvach (2005). "A comparative analysis of helminth faunas and infection of ten species of gobiid fishes (Actinopterygii: Gobiidae) from the North-Western Black Sea" (PDF). Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 35 (2): 103–110. http://www.aiep.pl/volumes/2000/5_2/pdf/ACTA_35(2)_paper_06.pdf. 
6. ^ Kvach Y. (2005) Helminth fauna of the grass goby Zosterisessor ophiocephalus in the water bodies of the North-Western Black Sea region. Ekologicheskaya Bezopasnost pribrezhnoy i shelfovoj zon i kompleksnoye ispolzovaniye resursov shelfa. (Eds.) V.A. Ivanov et al., No 12, pp. 603–609. (in Russian)
7. ^ Grinbart S.B. (1960) K izucheniye pitaniya ryb Grigoryevskogo limana. Yezhegodnik Odesskogo univeriteta (Biologichekiy fakultet): 2: 167-172. (in Russian)
8. ^ Ilyin B.S. (1949) Kratkiy obzor chernomorskih bychkov (Pisces, Gobiidae). Buleten MOIP (Otd. Biol.), 54(3): 16-30. (in Russian)

Fish About fish Diversity of fish Capacity for pain Diseases and parasites Fisheries Fishing Fear of fish FishBase Fish kill Ichthyology Prehistoric fish Schreckstoff Anatomy Fish anatomy Ampullae of Lorenzini Anguilliformity Barbel Dorsal fin Electroreception Swim bladder Gill Gill slit Glossohyal Hyomandibula Lateral line Leydig's organ Mauthner cell Operculum Pharyngeal teeth Photophore Pseudobranch Shark cartilage Shark tooth Scales Vision Weberian apparatus Digital Library Reproduction Bubble nest Clasper Egg case Fish development Ichthyoplankton Milt Mouthbrooder Roe Spawning Spawning triggers Locomotion Fish locomotion Fin and flipper locomotion Amphibious fish Walking fish Flying fish Undulatory locomotion Behaviour Aquatic predation Bait ball Bottom feeders Cleaner fish Diel vertical migration Electric fish Filter feeders Forage fish Hallucinogenic fish Migrating fish Paedophagy Predatory fish Salmon run Sardine run Scale eaters Schooling fish Venomous fish Habitats Coastal fish Coldwater fish Coral reef fish Deep sea fish Demersal fish Freshwater fish Groundfish Marine habitats Pelagic fish Tropical fish Wild fish Other types Bait fish Coarse fish Farmed fish Game fish Oily fish Rough fish Whitefish Lists: Aquarium fish Fish common names Fish families Fish on stamps Ichthyology terms