# Round Goby

*Neogobius melanostomus*

Their pelvic fins are fused into a single suction cup, allowing them to cling tightly to rocks and resist strong, rushing currents.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Actinopterygii › Gobiiformes › Gobiidae › Neogobius
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** increasing
- **Biome:** aquatic
- **Habitat:** Sandy, rocky, or gravelly bottoms of freshwater lakes, rivers, and brackish estuaries.
- **Diet:** Benthic invertebrates, insect larvae, small fish, eggs, and mollusks like zebra mussels.
- **Range:** Black Sea, Caspian Sea, North American Great Lakes, Baltic Sea, Rhine River
- **Size:** 10-25 cm (4-10 inches)
- **Lifespan:** 2-4 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Predation by larger fish (such as bass and walleye) and water pollution in its native range.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless to humans. If caught in areas where it is an invasive species (such as the Great Lakes), do not return it to the water; humanely euthanize it to protect local ecosystems. If encountered in its native Eurasian range, it can be safely observed from a distance or handled with wet hands.

## About

The round goby ( Neogobius melanostomus ) is a euryhaline bottom-dwelling goby of the family Gobiidae, native to central Eurasia including the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Round gobies have established large non-native populations in the Baltic Sea, several major Eurasian rivers, and the North American Great Lakes.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/77ec8d84-286a-4269-8f7a-19b744693a39
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/106743
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neogobius melanostomus
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/29118819/medium.jpg (Owen Strickland, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.