Toad goby

Toad Goby
Mesogobius batrachocephalus from Gelendzhik, Caucasus
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Gobiidae
Subfamily:	Benthophilinae
Genus:	Mesogobius
Species:	M. batrachocephalus
Binomial name
Mesogobius batrachocephalus (Pallas, 1814)
Synonyms
Gobius batrachocephalus Pallas, 1814 Neogobius batrachocephalus (Pallas, 1814)

Knout Goby, or Toad goby (Mesogobius batrachocephalus), is a species of fish in the Gobiidae family from the basin of the Black Sea. The natural area of this species are coastal waters of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, and Ukraine^[1]. Presented in the Bosporus (registered in the Balta-Liman), Lake Varna, Kerch Strait, estuaries: Berezan, Hryhorivsky, Tyligul, Dniester, Dnieper-Bug, Molochny, Sivash. In the lower Southern Bug River, in the Dnieper River up to Zaporizhzhia.

Recently, the toad goby has expanded its range into the Dnieper River, and has become a common species near Kiev, in Kiev Reservoir.

The Knout Goby inhabits inshore waters, estuaries, brackish- and fresh-water lagoons of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. It can reach 35–40 cm in length (14-16 inches) and 600 grams in weight (1.3 pounds). Lives up to eight years. Spawns for the first time at the third year in February–May, only once a year. Deposits its roe under or between stones. Its relatively large size and its somewhat flat head with chubby cheeks, sets it apart from its other relatives in the Gobiidae family. The Knout Goby prefers sandy and rocky bottom, where it can feed on shrimp and other small crustaceans, mussels, and other molluscs as well as on small gobies and other small fish.

Head of the toad goby from the Gulf of Odessa, Ukraine

References

1. ^ 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)

Source

• World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Mesogobius batrachocephalus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 4 August 2007.
• Mesogobius batrachocephalus in FishBase
• Fishes of the waters of Ukraine