Gobiidae

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 657

Family Gobiidae

True gobies

True freshwater gobies occur in all sea basins in West Asia except the Mediterranean. In the Black and Caspian Seas, the Ponto-Caspian gobies of the genera Babka , Neogobius , Ponticola , and Proterorhinus , as well as the tadpole gobies of the genera Anatirostrum , Benthophilus , Benthophiloides , and Caspiosoma , are represented. However, in West Asia, tadpole gobies are not reported to enter freshwaters, unlike in Europe. They are speciose and very diverse in the seas. Only Benthophilus leobergius is occasionally reported from the Caspian Sea near river estuaries. Therefore, tadpole gobies are excluded from the coverage of this book. Additionally, other gobies well-known from the European Black Sea coast, including Ponticola eurycephalus and P. ratan appear absent from Anatolia’s coasts. In addition to the Ponto-Caspian gobies listed below, Gobius cobitis , G. niger , G. ophiocephalus and some additional Ponticola species are occasionally recorded as occurring in freshwater. However, we are unaware of documented records of their permanent and regular occurrence. Therefore, they are briefly discussed in the generic chapters below.

In the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, additional true gobies are known from inland waters, while only Glossogobius regularly enter pure freshwaters. Bathygobius fuscus , Acentrogobius dayi , and others are occasionally reported from saline inland waters but not from freshwater habitats. Bathygobius and Acentrogobius are included in the key to ease their identification, but as these species are not considered freshwater fishes, they are excluded otherwise. Indeed, more marine gobies (as Cryptocentroides arabicus and Favonigobius melanobranchus ) might occur in the lower reaches of the rivers, as some have brackish waters. Identification literature for marine fishes should be considered to identify these.

Further reading. Nelson et al. 2016 (diversity).

Figures

G. ophiocephalus