''Lophogobius cyprinoides'', commonly known as the crested goby, is a small fish that is widespread throughout the western Atlantic Ocean.

Description

The crested goby is a small but stout fish, reaching a maximum length of . Its body appears compressed and a crest extends back from the middle of its eyes. They have six dorsal spines with the fourth spine being the longest, and 16–20 pectoral fin rays which reach beyond the start of the anal fin in adults. The tail is wide and round. Both sexes have reddish-brown to olive mottling along their head and bodies, but those of the males are more extensive and darker in color. The females cheeks are covered with pale spots, also with several pale lines behind eye, while males have black and orange spots on the first dorsal fin, which change to black and violet during breeding.

Distribution and habitat

This widespread species occurs throughout the western Atlantic Ocean, from

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, throughout the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and along the coasts of Central & northern South America. Adults are capable of dwelling in fresh or saltwater and inhabit tidal creeks, estuaries, mangroves and other coastal waters with salinity ranging from 0.0 to 39.3 ppt. Crested gobies favor mangroves because it uses the extensive underwater roots for shelter and hiding.

Diet

Crested goby feed mainly on

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

, but are opportunistic feeders and will take small

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

and

molluscs Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

Reproduction

The vast majority of crested gobies are born females, but some will change to males during their lifespan. Only a small number of individuals are born male; those that are will stay that way for life. Crested goby lay their eggs in rocky areas along the sea bed, where they are secured from being swept away by harsh currents. While they produce a relatively low amount of eggs, crested gobies can breed anytime throughout the year.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2695020 Gobiidae Fish described in 1770