''Glossogobius giuris'', the tank goby, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

goby Goby is a common name for many species of small to medium sized ray-finned fish, normally with large heads and tapered bodies, which are found in marine, brackish and freshwater environments. Traditionally most of the species called gobies have b ...

native to fresh, marine and brackish waters from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

and

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

through

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the islands of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. This species can also be found in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade. It is also known as the bar-eyed goby, flat-headed goby and the Gangetic tank goby.

Description

The head is depressed with a protruding lower jaw while the body takes on a compressed appearance towards to caudal fin. Normally brown or light brown with various darker brown spots and flecks along the sides. Ranges in size from 40 to 50 cm maximum (16-20 inches).

Habitat

This

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

species is most often associated with

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

habitats, although it is also found in marine water and can be found many kilometers inland in freshwater

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

s, up to inland in Malawi. This species is a benthopelagic and amphidromous goby which is found in clear to turbid streams with rock, gravel, or sandy substrates.

Reproduction

Lays eggs amongst submerged vegetation, where the eggs are guarded by both the male and the female. They will spawn in freshwater, the eggs being taken to the sea by the current, although it can complete its whole life cycle in freshwater. In South Africa it breeds in the summer while in northern Australia breeding takes place in the dry season.

Feeding

A carnivorous fish, it will eat any small fish and invertebrates it comes across.

Cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

has been recorded. According to the index of abundance the preferred food items in guts were recorded as; fish (44.75%), semi digested food (22.46%), insect (12%), debris & detritus (6.78%), crustacean (5.93%), fish scale (4.76%), fish egg (1.53%), zooplankton (0.83%), plant (0.63%) and mollusk (0.33%) by volume. The ratio of total length (TL) and total gut length (TGL) was 1:0.252. Gut length was about less than half of the total length of the fish, which also indicated the carnivorous nature of feeding habit of the fish.

Human Interaction

Unusually for a goby this species is commercially exploited, possibly due to its large size, and sold fresh or frozen. It also appears in the aquarium trade.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2114967 tank goby Freshwater fish of South Africa Freshwater fish of Australia Freshwater fish of South Asia Fish of Bangladesh Freshwater fish of India Freshwater fish of China tank goby