The painted goby (''Pomatoschistus pictus'') is a small goby of Western European waters from

Trondheim Fjord The Trondheim Fjord or Trondheimsfjorden (), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway's third-longest fjord at long. It is located in the west-central part of the country in Trøndelag county, and it stretches from the municipality of Ørla ...

to Spain, the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

and is sometimes reported in the Mediterranean Sea. Also mentioned in the Black Sea.Black Sea Fishes Check List
It lives at depths from , preferring a gravelly or sandy environment. Its young may sometimes be found in tide pools. It feeds on

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

s and

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

Description

The painted goby is a relatively small goby, only growing to 6 cm in length, although some may grow to 9.5 cm. It is fawn-brown, with a row of four double dark brown spots along the sides. The dorsal fin has rows of dark brown-black spots interspersed with bands of

iridescent Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...

blue and pink.

References

External links

Breeding sounds of the painted gobyA good picture of a painted goby
pictus Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Fish of the North Sea Fish of the Baltic Sea Fish of Europe Fish described in 1865 {{Gobiidae-stub