monkey goby
neogobius fluviatilis latin

Recently, the monkey goby has been registered as an invasive species in some countries of Europe.

The monkey goby has been found in the German part of the river Rhine since March 2009.

The average adult monkey goby measures 7-10 centimeters, but has been known to grow to lengths of 18-20 centimeters.

In the northwestern Black Sea, twelve parasite species are known to infect the monkey goby.

The monkey goby was discovered in the Middle Danube in Hungary in 1984.

In the Khadzhibey Estuary a dozen species of prey make up the diet of monkey goby.

The monkey goby belongs to the group known as malacophages, but molluscs have lower importance in its diet than in that of the round goby.

Most important species are round goby, monkey goby, toad goby, and grass goby.

The monkey goby, Neogobius fluviatilis, is a species of fish in the Gobiidae family, and a Ponto-Caspian relict species.

In Ukraine the monkey goby is a crucial commercial fish, especially in the Sea of Azov and Dnieper-Bug Estuary.

The natural habitat of the monkey goby is the fresh and brackish waters of basins in the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.

In August 2011 the monkey goby is registered for the first time in the Evros River (Greece), which is inflows to the Aegean Sea.

In the Danube lakes Yalpug and Kugurluy, the diet of the monkey goby consists of amphipods, molluscs, and Oligochaeta.

Earlier it was considered as the Caspian subspecies of the monkey goby, N. fluviatilis pallasi, but now erected as different species, specific for the Caspian basin.

The fauna of the estuary consists of crabs Rhithropanopeus harrisii, shrimps Palaemon elegans, round goby Neogobius melanostomus and monkey goby Neogobius fluviatilis, etc.

The monkey goby is covered with cycloid scales on the head crown, nape, back, one third of the gill covers, bases of the pectoral fins, and the posterior half of the throat and belly.

Definitive hosts are Cobitis taenia, and gobies: Toad goby Mesogobius batrachocephalus, Bighead goby Ponticola kessleri and Monkey goby Neogobius fluviatilis.

In the 1950s, along the coast of the Gulf of Taganrog in the Sea of Azov, the monkey goby was registered as a host of epizootic of nematodes Tetrameres fissispina and Streptocara crassicauda, which are fatal to ducklings.

In the Black Sea and the surrounding areas, the monkey goby is common in all desalinated water including the Danube river and its tributaries, the lagoons and estuaries of the north-western part of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the rivers of Caucasus.