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Round Goby - Neogobius melanostomus
State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
A conservation status rank is not applicable because this species is not a suitable target for conservation activities as a result of being exotic or introduced.
General Description
The round goby is a small (less than 8 inches) benthic fish that is superficially similar to our native sculpins, but can be distinguished by the presence of fused pelvic fins (sculpins have two separate fins).
Diagnostic Characteristics
This goby is superficially similar to native sculpins but can be distinguished by the presence of fused pelvic fins (sculpins have two separate fins), a 17.8 cm (8 inch) maximum length has been seen in United States (Marsden and Jude 1995; Hubbs et al. 2004).
Range Comments
Native Range: Eurasia including Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and Sea of Azov and tributaries (Miller 1986).
Introduced Range: Introduced into the Great Lakes from the Black Sea via freighter ballast. Spread to Lake Superior by freighters operating within the Great Lakes. This species has been introduced into the Great Lakes states and Provinces--Michigan, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Ohio, Ontario, New York, Pennsylvania tributaries of Lake Erie and in 2010 spread into the lower Illinois River in Illinois (Fuller et al. 2018)
Montana Range: Not known to occur in any waterbodies within Montana's borders.
For maps and other distributional information on non-native species see:
Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database from the U.S. Geological Survey
Invasive Species Habitat Tool (INHABIT) from the U.S. Geological Survey
Invasive Species Compendium from the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI)
EDDMapS Species Information EDDMapS Species Information
Migration
Not known to undergo any migratory behavior from their small home range.
Habitat
The distribution of the round goby around the inshore areas of the Black and Caspian seas indicates their potential for widespread occupation of inshore habitats with cover, especially plants or rocky rubble, in the lower Great Lakes, yet they can migrate to deeper water 50-60 m in winter (Jude et al., 1992). Freshwater Lakes and brackish seas. Fresh water, prefers brackish (Stepien and Tumeo 2006).
Food Habits
The diet of round gobies collected in the United States consists of aquatic insects, zebra mussels, and some native snails. Larger round gobies focus feeding mainly on zebra mussels, which no other fish species of the Great Lakes consumes so heavily, allowing round gobies to uniquely exploit a resource that could fuel a population explosion (Vanderploeg et al. 2002). Walleye anglers in Detroit report that at times, all they can catch are gobies, which eagerly attack bait (Marsden and Jude 1995).
Ecology
The round goby perches on rocks and other substrates in shallow areas, yet it has been reported in a variety of other habitat types including open sandy areas and abundant aquatic macrophytes (Jude and DeBoe 1996; Clapp et al. 2001). This goby also has a well developed sensory system that enhances its ability to detect water movement. This allows it to feed in complete darkness, giving it an advantage over other fish in the same habitat The numbers of native fish species have declined in areas where the round goby has become abundant (Crossman et al., 1992). This species has been found to prey on darters, other small fish, and lake trout eggs and fry in laboratory experiments. They also may feed on eggs and fry of sculpins, darters, and logperch (Marsden and Jude, 1995) and have also been found to have a significant overlap in diet preference with many native fish species.
Management
Preventing the spread of this invasive fish species into Montana's waterbodies will likely be due to diligence in making sure no live fish are transported in live wells across state lines (i.e. preventing bucket biology).
Contact information for Aquatic Invasive Species personnel:Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Aquatic Invasive Species staffMontana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation's Aquatic Invasive Species Grant ProgramMontana Invasive Species Council (MISC)Upper Columbia Conservation Commission (UC3)Threats or Limiting Factors
There seems to be no limiting factors in the establishment of this species into Montana's waterbodies. It can withstand cold water temperatures that are found in the Great Lakes and would likely survive conditions during a Montana winter.
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Clapp, D.F., P.J. Schneeberger, D.J. Jude, G. Madison, and C. Pistis. 2001. Monitoring round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) population expansion in eastern and northern Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 27(3):335-341.- Crossman, E. J., E. Holm, R. Cholmondeley, and K. Tuininga, April-June 1992, First Record for Canada of the Rudd, Scardinius Erythrophthalmus, and Notes On the Introduced Round Goby, Neogobius Melanostomus. Canadian Field-Naturalist 106(2):206-209.
- Fuller, P., Benson, A., Maynard, E., Neilson, M.E., Larson, J., and Fusaro, A. 2018. Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814): U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL, https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=713, Revision Date: 5/14/2018, Peer Review Date: 4/1/2016, Access Date: 8/13/2018
- Hubbs, C.L., K.F. Lagler, and G.R. Smith. 2004. Fishes of the Great Lakes Region. Revised edition. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI.
- Jude, D.J., and S.F. DeBoe. 1996. Possible impact of gobies and other introduced species on habitat restoration efforts. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 53(S1):136-141.
- Jude, D.J., R.H. Reider, and G.R. Smith. 1992. Establishment of Gobiidae in the Great Lakes Basin. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 49:416-421.
- Marsden, J. E., and D. J. Jude. 1995. Round gobies invade North America. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program in cooperation with the Michigan and Ohio Sea Grant College Programs, IL-IN-SG-95-10. Copyright by TheOhio State University.
- Miller, P.J. 1986. Gobiidae. Pages 1019-1085 in P. J. P. Whitehead, M.L. Bauchot., J.C. Hureau, J. Nielsen, E. Tortonese, editors. Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, volume III. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, France.
- Stepien, C.A., and M.A. Tumeo. 2006. Invasion genetics of Ponto-Caspian gobies in the Great Lakes: a 'cryptic' species, absence of founder effects, and comparative risk analysis. Biological Invasions 8:61-78.
- Vanderploeg, H.A., T.F. Nalepa, D.J. Jude, E.L. Mills, K.T. Holeck, J.R. Leibig, I.A. Grigorovich, and H. Ojaveer. 2002. Dispersal and emerging ecological impacts of Ponto-Caspian species in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59(7):1209-1228.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Joslin, Gayle, and Heidi B. Youmans. 1999. Effects of recreation on Rocky Mountain wildlife: a review for Montana. [Montana]: Montana Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
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