Black Goby
Gobius niger
Shadow goby
Acentrogobius nebulosus
About
The shadow goby is a pale, quiet fish of the soft stuff: silty and muddy bottoms around inner reefs, mangrove roots, and the lower reaches of estuaries and rivers. It stays shallow, within about 15 m of the surface, and grows to 18 cm, which is large for a goby. Three dark smudges along its side give it its shadowy look.
Also known as: hair-finned goby, hairfin goby, goby
- Length
- 18 cm
- Depth
- up to 15 m
How to tell it apart
Muddy inshore bottoms hold a crowd of small grey gobies, and blotchy sides are common among them. Go to the first dorsal fin, the one nearest the head. On this species the second and third spines are drawn out into long, fine threads that trail back over the fish. Its look-alikes carry a plain, even-topped fin.
Appearance
The body is pale grey with three large dark brown blotches spaced along the side. Over that sits a faint brown scribble, fine lines across the head and body like handwriting. The fins along the middle of the body are edged in black. The tail fin is rounded and a little shorter than the head. The head has no scales, so it looks smooth next to the rough-scaled body.
Did you know?
This goby is poisonous to eat. It carries tetrodotoxin, and the poison is concentrated in the skin, with far more of it in the guts than in the flesh.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
