Round Goby

At a glance

Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is an IUCN Least Concern bony-fish species regulated in 8 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.

Confirmed by 3,252 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with Ontario, Michigan, and New York the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• Introduced to the Great Lakes via ship ballast water discharged from the Black Sea region.
• First detected in North America in Lake St. Clair in 1990.
• A fused pelvic fin forms a suction disc that anchors them in fast currents.
• A bold black spot on the first dorsal fin distinguishes them from native gobies.
• Males aggressively guard egg nests and can spawn with multiple females per season.

Where Round Goby are seen

• Ontario1,574 iNat obs
• Michigan671 iNat obs
• New York305 iNat obs
• Wisconsin185 iNat obs
• Illinois178 iNat obs
• Ohio126 iNat obs

Jurisdictions with rules for Round Goby

• IllinoisUnited States · official source
• MassachusettsUnited States · official source
• OntarioCanada · official source
• TennesseeUnited States · official source

Background

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.

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Round Goby article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other bony fish on CatchRules

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• PumpkinseedLepomis gibbosus
• Northern PikeEsox lucius
• Moorish IdolZanclus cornutus