The Don tadpole-goby (''Benthophilus durrelli'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

goby The Gobioidei are a suborder of percomorph fish. Many of these fishes are called gobies. It is by far the largest and most diverse order within the order Gobiiformes, and one of the most diverse groups of ray-finned fish in general. The subord ...

widespread in the basin of the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

, specifically in the lower

Don River The Don () is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its basin is betwee ...

and

Tsimlyansk Reservoir Tsimlyansk Reservoir or Tsimlyanskoye Reservoir () is an artificial lake on the Don River in the territories of Rostov and Volgograd Oblasts at . Completed in 1952, the reservoir is one of the largest in Russia, providing power () and irrigation ...

. This species is found in rivers, reservoirs and river mouths, but is not known to enter seas. It is introduced and invasive upstream the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

, e.g. the Kuibyshev Reservoir. This fish can reach a length of SL. Life span is about one year.

Etymology

This species was named after the English author and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell Order of the British Empire, OBE (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservation movement, conservationist, and television presenter. He was born in Jamshedpur in British Ind ...

(1925–1995).

References

Benthophilus Taxa named by Nina Gidalevna Bogutskaya Fish described in 2004 Fish of Europe Fish of Russia {{Gobiidae-stub