Teleostei (teleosts) >
Gobiiformes (Gobies) >
Gobiidae (Gobies) > Gobiinae
Etymology: Aphia: Greek, aphia, -as = a kind of plant (Tussilago sp.) (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Risso.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 97 m (Ref. 57814), usually 5 - 80 m (Ref. 57814). Subtropical; 13°C - 16°C (Ref. 57814); 70°N - 25°N, 13°W - 42°E
Atlantic Ocean: Trondheim to Morocco. Also known from the Mediterranean including Black Sea and the Azov Sea (Ref. 57814).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 3.8, range 3 - ? cm
Max length : 7.9 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26260); max. reported age: 1.00 years (Ref. 232)
Dorsal spines (total): 4 - 6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11 - 13; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 11 - 15. Transparent body, more or less reddish, with chromatophores along bases of median fins and on head. Vertebrae 26-28 (Ref. 232). Males with longer dorsal and anal fins than females (Ref. 35388).
Benthic and free swimming (Ref. 92840). A neotenic, pelagic species inhabiting inshore and estuarine waters, over sand, mud and eel-grass (Ref. 4343). Adults feed on zooplankton, especially copepods, cirripede larvae and mysids (Ref. 4343). They spawn in summer in empty bivalve shells (Ref. 35388). Probably migrate to deeper water to spawn during summer (Ref. 57814). Adults die after breeding (Ref. 4696) which does not qualify as a manifestation of semelparity but abbreviate iteroparity according to a recent study (Ref. 81039). Eggs are pear-shaped (Ref. 4696).
Single spawner, all oocytes in the ovaries grow at a similar rate (Ref. 57814). However, a recent study showed that this species breeds at least twice during its short lifespan with batches of oocytes at different vittelogenic stages in the ovary (Ref. 81039). Reproduction is of the abbreviate iteroparous type with more than one spawning per reproductive season (in spring and summer in older females, in summer and autumn in the yougner ones) (Ref. 81039).
Maugé, L.A., 1986. Gobiidae. p. 358-388. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 4343)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial
Tools
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Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 7.6 - 18.6, mean 10.8 °C (based on 1452 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00562 (0.00492 - 0.00643), b=3.09 (3.05 - 3.13), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.2 ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K>0.3; tm=1; tmax=1; Fec = 935).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (12 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 395 [175, 1,059] mg/100g; Iron = 2.75 [1.16, 5.97] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [16.2, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 0.294 [0.105, 0.828] g/100g; Selenium = 29.2 [9.5, 91.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 9.18 [1.88, 40.11] μg/100g; Zinc = 2.41 [1.43, 3.95] mg/100g (wet weight);
