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Pomatoschistus minutus (Pallas, 1770)

Sand goby
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Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Pomatoschistus minutus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Pomatoschistus minutus (Sand goby)
Pomatoschistus minutus
Male picture by Busse, K.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gobiiformes (Gobies) > Gobiidae (Gobies) > Gobionellinae
Etymology: Pomatoschistus: Greek, poma, -atos = cover, operculum + Greek, schistos = divided (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Pallas.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal; amphidromous; depth range 4 - 200 m. Temperate; 8°C - 24°C (Ref. 4944); 71°N - 35°N, 11°W - 34°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: from Norway to Spain (Ref. 51442); also Mediterranean Sea (Ref. 51442) and Black Sea, but probably not throughout. Pomatoschistus minutus elongatus exists in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 6.3, range 3 - 10 cm
Max length : 11.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4645); max. reported age: 2.70 years (Ref. 40230)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 6 - 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 12; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 9 - 12; Vertebrae: 32 - 34. Elongated body (Ref. 51442). The relative great eyes are placed high and close together (Ref. 51442). Joint pelvic fins forming an oval ventral disc (Ref. 51442). Elongated caudal peduncle (Ref. 51442). Predorsal area and nape covered by scales (Ref. 59043). Scales on the back, in front of the first dorsal fin (Ref. 35388). Dark spot on the hind end of first dorsal fin; Dark area on the front part of pectoral fins indistinct or missing.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

This occasionally schooling species is found in inshore sandy and muddy areas. Also found in ecotones near hard bottoms (Ref. 92840). Juveniles found in lower estuaries. Mainly diurnal, this species feeds on small polychaetes, amphipods (corophiids, caprellids), cumaceans and mysids (Ref. 4696). Spawns in summer in shallow waters. Male lures the female into an empty bivalve shell where she lays a portion of eggs. Guarded by the male for 10 days until larvae about 3 mm long. Larvae are pelagic at first. Young fish only start to live at the bottom when 17-18 mm (Ref. 35388).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

High mortality rate during the first year. Also Ref. 53335.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Miller, P.J., 1986. Gobiidae. p. 1019-1085. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Volume 3. UNESCO, Paris. (Ref. 4696)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 10 March 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 7 - 12.2, mean 9.4 °C (based on 464 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5001   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00631 (0.00462 - 0.00862), b=3.06 (3.02 - 3.10), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 1.2 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.93; tm=0.7; tmax=2.7; fec = 5,231).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (15 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 101 [56, 258] mg/100g; Iron = 0.552 [0.269, 1.104] mg/100g; Protein = 18.2 [16.1, 19.8] %; Omega3 = 0.818 [0.358, 1.667] g/100g; Selenium = 11.6 [5.2, 35.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 17.1 [4.9, 59.8] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.04 [0.71, 1.56] mg/100g (wet weight);