Racer Goby
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The racer goby (''Babka gymnotrachelus'') 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), ...
of
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 ...
native to
fresh Fresh may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Fresh'' (1994 film), a crime film * ''Fresh'' (2009 film), a documentary film on sustainable agriculture * ''Fresh'' (2022 film), a thriller film *''Fresh with the Aust ...
, sometimes
brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...
, waters, of the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
basin. It is a Ponto-Caspian
relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...
species. The species is placed a
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
, ''Babka'', which was once considered a
subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...
of
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''
Neogobius ''Neogobius'' is a genus of gobies, native to Black Sea and the Caspian Sea basins. It is part of the broader Benthophilinae subfamily which is also endemic to the same region. Nevertheless, two ''Neogobius'' species have recently turned out to b ...
'', but was then elevated to genus-status based on the
molecular analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
.


Characteristics

It has 7–8
dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...
spines, 14–18 dorsal soft
ray Ray or RAY may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), the bony or horny spine on ray-finned fish Science and mathematics * Half-line (geometry) or ray, half of a line split at an ...
s, a single
anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involving ...
spine and 12–16 anal soft rays. This species is distinguished from its relatives in ''Neogobius'' based on multiple characteristics. ''B. gymnotrachelus'' has diagonal bars of irregular position and shape. The first branched ray of second dorsal is about as long as its penultimate ray. It lacks scales on the midline of its nape, anterior to its preoperculum. It has a
pelvic The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an anatomical trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis or pelvic skeleton). ...
-disc fraenum with small rounded lobes and length less than 1/6 of width at base. It has 54–62 + 2–3 scales in midlateral series. The posterior part of first dorsal has no black spot.


Ecology


Range

This goby inhabits the coasts of
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, the
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
s of the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, including
Inguri The Enguri ( ka, ენგური, tr , , , ''Egry'') is a river in western Georgia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Rioni The Rioni ( ka, რიონი ; , ) is the main river of western Georgia. It originates in the Caucasus Mountains, in the region of Racha and flows west to the Black Sea, entering it north of the city of Poti (near ancient Phasis). The city ...
and the rivers of
Kolkhida In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the ...
, including Lake Paliastomi,
Lake Suzha A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...
. In the north-western
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
it inhabits the Dnieper-Bug Estuary,
Dniester Estuary Dniester Estuary, or Dniester Liman (; ) is a liman, formed at the point where the river Dniester flows into the Black Sea. It is located in Ukraine, in Odesa Oblast, and connects Budjak to the Ukrainian mainland. The city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky ...
, near the
Tendra sandbar Tendra may refer to: * Gulf (or Bay) of Tendra, Black Sea * Spit (or Island) of Tendra, scene of Russian-Turkish naval battle *Battle of Tendra The Battle of Tendra (or the battle of Khadjibey) was a naval action fought on 8 and 9 September ...
and
Berezan Island Berezan (; Ancient Greek: Borysthenes; former ) is an island in the Black Sea at the entrance of the Dnieper-Bug Estuary, Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. Located 8 kilometers from the city of Ochakiv and 4 kilometers from the resort ...
. In the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
River it is widespread up to
Vidin Vidin (, ) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin (since ...
, and lives in
tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...
and lakes of
Danube delta The Danube Delta (, ; , ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. Occurring where the Danube, Danube River empties into the Black Sea, most of the Danube Delta lies in Romania ...
, including Brateş, Kahul, Yalpug, Katlabuh, Kitay, Razelm, etc. It inhabits the
Dniester The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...
River and its
tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...
, including
Zbruch The Zbruch (; ) is a river in Western Ukraine, a left tributary of the Dniester.Збруч
Zhvanchik, Smotrych,
Răut Răut, also referred to as Reut (, Ukrainian and (Reut), (Revet)) is a river in Moldova, a right tributary of Dniester. Răut, generally navigable until the 18th-19th century, is navigable today only by small recreational boats. The towns Bă ...
,
Bîc Bîc (also spelled Bâc, ) is a river in Moldova, a right tributary of the Dniester. Geography The Bâc originates in a spring in the village of Temeleuți in west central Moldova. As it flows west and south, the upper Bâc cuts a deep canyon ...
,
Dubăsari Reservoir Dubăsari (; mo-Cyrl, Дубэсарь) or Dubossary (; ; ) is a city in Transnistria, with a population of 23,650. Claimed by both the Republic of Moldova and the Transnistrian Moldavian Republic, the city is under the latter's administration, ...
. It is common in the
Southern Bug The Southern Bug, also called Southern Buh (; ; ; or just ), and sometimes Boh River (; ),
River and in the
Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
River as far as
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
. It lives in the
Kamchiya The Kamchiya (also Kamchia and Kamčija, ) is a river in eastern Bulgaria. From its longest source, Golyama Kamchiya (Big Kamchiya), it has a total length of (. The river Kamchiya proper starts from the confluence of the two rivers springing ...
River and Lake Shablensko in
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
. In 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 ...
it is in
Taganrog Bay Taganrog Bay (; ) is the northeastern arm of the Sea of Azov. It also may be perceived as a flooded estuary of the Don River. Geography The bay serves as a natural boundary between the Kuban coast line in Russia and the northern Azov littor ...
and the Don, Aksay,
Seversky Donets The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...
rivers. It also inhabits the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
, where it is represented by the
subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
''Babka gymnotrachelus macrophthalmus'', which further research may show to be a separate species. The racer goby inhabits but is non-indigenous in the rivers of the
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
basin, including the Bug and
Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...
. It was also introduced in the Middle
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
, in
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. The westernmost locality of this species range is the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
sector of the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
River, where this fish occurred first in 2011. The information about the introduction of this species to the Lower
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
River is considered erroneous.


Feeding

In the
Dniester Estuary Dniester Estuary, or Dniester Liman (; ) is a liman, formed at the point where the river Dniester flows into the Black Sea. It is located in Ukraine, in Odesa Oblast, and connects Budjak to the Ukrainian mainland. The city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky ...
half of the racer goby's diet consists of
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
. The rest is a mix of
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 ...
(
Corophiidae Corophiidae is a family of amphipods, containing the following genera: *'' Americorophium'' Bousfield & Hoover, 1997 *'' Anonychocheirus'' Moore & Myers, 1983 *'' Apocorophium'' Bousfield & Hoover, 1997 *'' Bathyphotis'' Stephensen, 1944 *'' Cha ...
) (29.6%), molluscs (''
Dreissena ''Dreissena'' is a genus of small freshwater mussels in the family Dreissenidae in the class Bivalvia. They are found attached to firm substrates by threads from underneath the shells and are the only freshwater bivalves to attach to hard substra ...
'', '' Adacna'', '' Monodacna'') (12,5%) and
polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...
worms of the species '' Hypania invalida''.Strautman I.F. (1972) Pitaniye i pishchevyje vzaimootnoshenija bychkov (sem.
Gobiidae Gobiidae or gobies is a family (biology), family of bony fish in the order (biology), order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising over 2,000 species in more than 200 genus, genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typ ...
) Dnestrovskogo limana. Vestnik Zoologii, 4: 35–38. (in Russian)
In the
Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...
River A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
near
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
the diet consists of
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 ...
''
Dreissena ''Dreissena'' is a genus of small freshwater mussels in the family Dreissenidae in the class Bivalvia. They are found attached to firm substrates by threads from underneath the shells and are the only freshwater bivalves to attach to hard substra ...
'' sp.,
amphipods Amphipoda () is an order (biology), 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 10,700 amphip ...
and sewage worms ''
Tubifex tubifex ''Tubifex tubifex'', also called the sludge worm, sewage worm, or simply tubifex worm, is a species of tubificid segmented worm which inhabits the sediments of lakes and rivers on several continents. ''Tubifex'' likely includes several species ...
''.


References


External links


Racer Goby Phylogeography

''Neogobius gymnotrachelus'' (Kessler, 1857) - Alien species in Poland




{{Taxonbar, from=Q874813
racer goby The racer goby (''Babka gymnotrachelus'') is a species of goby native to fresh water, fresh, sometimes brackish water, brackish, waters, of the Black Sea basin. It is a Ponto-Caspian Relict (biology), relict species. The species is placed a monot ...
Freshwater fish of Europe Fish of the Black Sea Fish of the Caspian Sea
racer goby The racer goby (''Babka gymnotrachelus'') is a species of goby native to fresh water, fresh, sometimes brackish water, brackish, waters, of the Black Sea basin. It is a Ponto-Caspian Relict (biology), relict species. The species is placed a monot ...
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot