Found in a shallow stream, just 10 cm deep, issuing from
secondary forest, Singapore.
Family : GOBIIDAE
Species : Rhinogobius giurinus
Maximum Length : 6 cm (possibly to 8 cm).
References : F2 |
This tiny goby, a native
of Northeast Asia, occurs in freshwater streams and rivers, brackish
estuaries and marine environments.
Its body form is elongate
and the eyes are moderate in size. Its skin is mottled pale grey and dark
grey, however the example in this photo (left) is more reddish-brown perhaps
due to the reddish, iron-rich substrate of the stream in which it was found.
The species is omnivorous,
feeding on a variety of plant and other organic matter as well as insects,
snails and the larvae of crustaceans and other fishes.
The Oriental River Goby
occurs mainly in Taiwan and mainland China, Japan and Korea, and is also
listed as occurring in Vietnam. In Singapore it is an introduced species in
freshwater habitats, and is blamed for out-competing Pseudogobiopsis
oligactis, a native freshwater goby, which it may have pushed to local
extinction.
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