Round goby Round goby The round goby ("Neogobius melanostomus") is a euryhaline bottom-dwelling goby of the family Gobiidae, native to central Eurasia including the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Round gobies have established large non-native populations in the Baltic Sea, several major Eurasian rivers, and the North American Great Lakes. Round gobies are small, soft-bodied fish, characterized by a distinctive black spot on the first dorsal fin. Their eyes are large and protrude slightly from the top of the head and, like most gobies, round gobies have pelvic fins that are fused to form a single disc on the belly of
Round goby Nord-Ostsee (Kiel) Canal. As of 2010, the westernmost site of round goby occurrence in Europe was the Lower River Scheldt, the tidal zone in the river mouth, and Albert Canal, Belgium. In 2011, the round goby began invading the fresh waters of France: the species appeared in the Rhine River (on the border between France and Germany), and in the French part of the Moselle River. In total, 52 parasite species are registered in the round goby in the native area. Most abundant parasites of the Black-Sea round goby are metacercariae of trematodes of Heterophyidae family, such as "Cryptocotyle concavum",