Species of fish
Grass goby
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Gobiiformes
Family:
Gobiidae
Genus:
Zosterisessor Whitley , 1935
Species:
Z. ophiocephalus
Binomial name
Zosterisessor ophiocephalus
Synonyms
Genus
Zostericola Iljin, 1927 (pre-occupied)
Species
Gobius ophiocephalus Pallas, 1814
Gobius viridis A. W. Otto, 1821
Gobius filamentosus A. Risso , 1827
Gobius reticulatus Eichwald , 1831
Gobius lota Valenciennes , 1837
Gobius venetiarum Nardo , 1847
Gobius gous Nardo , 1847
Gobius ophiocephalus citrina Ninni , 1938
The grass goby (Zosterisessor ophiocephalus ) is a species of goby native to the Mediterranean Sea , the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea . It is the only known member of its genus .[ 2]
Characteristics
Grass gobies can grow up to 25 cm (9.8 in) long. The head crown, nape, throat, belly, and bases of the pectoral fins are covered by cycloid scales [ 3] and the gill covers are naked. The abdominal sucker has no blades and does not reach the anus . The mandibulae are protrusive, and the skin soft, with mucus. Their coloration is green-brown, patterned with merging brown spots. The cheeks have round light spots. The dorsal , caudal , and pectoral fins have longitudinal brown stripes on a light background; the anal and abdominal suckers are dark.
Range
A grass goby from the Tylihul Estuary , Ukraine
Widespread in coastal waters of all seas of the Mediterranean basin , they are especially numerous in the northern Adriatic Sea , Venetian Lagoon , and Sète Lagoon (France ) and in the Black Sea near all coasts, especially in lagoons and estuaries of the north-west, Varna and Burgas Bays , Sea of Azov , and Sivash .
Feeding
Until age two, grass gobies feed only on crustaceans , after which they start to eat fish. In Tuzly Lagoons , they first feed on gammarids Gammarus lacustris (94%), and Idotea balthica (6%)[ 4] followed by fish like the big-scale sand smelt (30%) and gobies (36%). Shrimp Palaemon adspersus also play an important role.[citation needed ]
Parasites
On the Crimean coasts, the grass goby hosts about 27 parasite species .[ 5] The acanthocephalans Acanthocephaloides propinquus are most numerous. In the northwestern Black Sea, this fish has 13 parasite species.[ 6] [ 7] Except for A. propinquus , the acanthocephalan Telosentis exiguus is very numerous. Both are Mediterranean immigrants as is the grass goby itself. The Ponto-Caspian cestodes Proteocephalus gobiorum and monogeneans Gyrodactylus proterorhini are also numerous. In the Budaki Lagoon , the grass goby is a host of larvae of epizootic nematode Streptocara crassicauda .
Importance
Grass goby for sale in a Sardinian market, Italy
The grass goby is eaten by some commercial fishes, such as the toad goby .[ 8] In the Sea of Azov , it is used for food by the harbour porpoise .[ 9]
The grass goby is a commercial fish in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the Molochnyi Estuary , Tuzly Lagoons , and in the Sivash .
In Venetian cuisine , it is known as pesce gò or ghiozzo , and is the basis for the dish risotto di gò (rixoto de gò in Venetian ) or risotto di Burano .[ 10]
References
^ Herler, J.; Kovacic, M. & Williams, J.T. (2014). "Zosterisessor ophiocephalus " . IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2014 : e.T23259A49092194. doi :10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T23259A49092194.en .
^ Froese, Rainer ; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Zosterisessor ophiocephalus " . FishBase . June 2013 version.
^ Smirnov A.I. (1986) Perch-likes (gobiids ), scorpionfishes , flatfishes ,
clingfishes , anglerfishes [in:] Fauna of Ukraine , Vol. 8, No 5, Kyiv : Naukova Dumka, 320 pp. (in Russian)
^ Dolgiy V.N. (1962) Materialy po biologii bychka-travianika Zosterisessor ophiocephalus - v usloviyah limanov Tuzlovskoy gruppy. Uchenyje zapiski Kishinevskogo universiteta, 62(1): 129–135. (in Russian)
^ Naidenova N.N. (1974) parazitofauna ryb semeystva bychkovyh Chernogo i Azovskogo morey, Kiev, Naukova Dumka, 182 pp. (in Russian)
^ Y. Kvach (2005). "A comparative analysis of helminth faunas and infection of ten species of gobiid fishes (Actinopterygii: Gobiidae) from the North-Western Black Sea" (PDF) . Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria . 35 (2): 103–110. doi :10.3750/AIP2005.35.2.06 . Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2011-01-23 .
^ Kvach Y. (2005) Helminth fauna of the grass goby Zosterisessor ophiocephalus in the water bodies of the North-Western Black Sea region. Ekologicheskaya Bezopasnost pribrezhnoy i shelfovoj zon i kompleksnoye ispolzovaniye resursov shelfa. (Eds.) V.A. Ivanov et al., No 12, pp. 603–609. (in Russian)
^ Grinbart S.B. (1960) K izucheniye pitaniya ryb Grigoryevskogo limana . Yezhegodnik Odesskogo univeriteta (Biologichekiy fakultet): 2: 167–172. (in Russian)
^ Ilyin B.S. (1949) Kratkiy obzor chernomorskih bychkov (Pisces, Gobiidae). Buleten MOIP (Otd. Biol.), 54(3): 16–30. (in Russian)
^
Beatrice Piselli, "Risotto di gò: a casa come a Venezia", Primo Chef , 24 Febbraio 2023
Zosterisessor Zosterisessor ophiocephalus