Monkey goby facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Monkey goby |
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The monkey goby (Neogobius fluviatilis) is a type of goby fish. It naturally lives in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
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What the Monkey Goby Looks Like
The monkey goby has scales covering its head, neck, and back. Its gill covers, fins, and part of its belly also have scales. It has a small second fin on its back.
Its head is about as wide as it is tall. The fish has a pointy snout. Inside its mouth, it has small, cone-shaped teeth. Its lower jaw sticks out a bit.
Underneath its body, the monkey goby has a special sucker. This sucker stretches from its throat to its rear. It helps the fish stick to rocks and other surfaces.
Monkey gobies are usually brownish-gray or yellowish-gray. They often have faint dark spots all over their body. You can also see rows of dark spots on their back and tail fins.
Most adult monkey gobies are about 7–10 centimeters long. However, some can grow much larger, up to 18–20 centimeters. An average monkey goby weighs around 50 grams.
Where the Monkey Goby Lives
The monkey goby naturally lives in fresh and brackish waters. These are found in the areas around the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.
In the Sea of Marmara basin, you can often find them in Manyas, Sapanca, and the Kazoli River. This river is near the Bosporus Strait.
Around the Black Sea, monkey gobies are common in many rivers and lagoons. This includes the Danube river and its smaller rivers. They also live in the Sea of Azov and rivers in the Caucasus region.
Monkey Goby as an Invasive Species
Recently, the monkey goby has spread to new places in Europe. When a species moves to a new area and causes harm, it's called an invasive species.
- In 1970, it was first found in Lake Balaton in Hungary.
- By 1984, it appeared in the middle part of the Danube River in Hungary.
- In 2001, it had spread to the Slovak-Hungarian part of the Danube.
- In the Baltic Sea area, it was first seen in 1997.
- The fish is now common in the Włocławek Reservoir and Zegrze Reservoir in Poland.
- Since 2009, monkey gobies have been found in the river Rhine in Germany.
- They have also been seen in the Waal River in the Netherlands.
In August 2011, the monkey goby was recorded for the first time in the Evros River in Greece. This river flows into the Aegean Sea.
What the Monkey Goby Eats
Monkey gobies are known as malacophages. This means they eat molluscs, which are creatures like snails and clams. However, molluscs are not always their main food.
For example, in the Sea of Azov, molluscs make up most of their diet. They mainly eat a type of clam called Abra segmentum.
In other places, their diet changes:
- In the Gulf of Tendra, they mostly eat polychaetes (a type of worm). They also eat insect larvae, molluscs, young gobies, and crustaceans like amphipods and shrimp.
- In the Danube lakes Yalpug and Kugurluy, they eat amphipods, molluscs, and Oligochaeta (another type of worm).
In the Khadzhibey Estuary, monkey gobies eat many different things. Worms, insect larvae, and shrimp are part of their diet all year. Sometimes, they also eat crabs, sea weed, and other amphipods. Even tiny planktonic crustaceans are eaten by adult gobies.
Monkey Goby Parasites
In the northwestern Black Sea, about twelve types of parasites can live on or in the monkey goby. Parasites are organisms that live on or in another creature and get their food from it.
Some common parasites found in monkey gobies include:
- Сryptocotyle concavum
- Сryptocotyle lingua
- Рygidiopsis genata
- The nematode Dichelyne minutus (a type of roundworm)
- The cestoda Ligula pavlovskii (a type of tapeworm)
In the 1950s, along the coast of the Gulf of Taganrog in the Sea of Azov, monkey gobies were found to carry certain nematodes. These nematodes, Tetrameres fissispina and Streptocara crassicauda, could be deadly to young ducklings.
Importance of the Monkey Goby
In Ukraine, the monkey goby is an important fish for fishing. This is especially true in the Sea of Azov and Dnieper-Bug Estuary.
The monkey goby also plays a key role in the food chain. It serves as food for other bigger fish that live in these areas.
