Crested Goby, Lophogobius cyprinoides
Crested Goby, Lophogobius cyprinoides, Male. Fish caught from coastal brackish waters of Coral Gables, Florida, March 2018. Length: 6.5 cm (2.6 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.
Crested Goby, Lophogobius cyprinoides, Male. Fish caught from coastal brackish waters of Satellite Beach, Florida, August 2019. Length: 6.5 cm (2.6 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Crested Goby, Lophogobius cyprinoides, Female. Fish caught out of the Indian River Lagoon, Micco, Florida, March 2021. Length: 7.0 cm (2.8 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.
Crested Goby, Lophogobius cyprinoides, Male. Fish caught from coastal brackish waters of Miami, Florida, December 2014. Length: 7.8 cm (3.1 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.
Crested Goby, Lophogobius cyprinoides, Female. Fish caught out of the Indian River Lagoon, Micco, Florida, November 2020. Length: 9.2 cm (3.6 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.
The Crested Goby, Lophogobius cyprinoides, is a member of the Goby or Gobiidae Family, and is known in Mexico as bonito and gobio gallo. Its common name stems from the high crest that extends from just before the dorsal fin to the middle of the eyes. Globally, there are two species in the genus Lophogobius, of which one, this species, is found in Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Crested Goby has a robust, somewhat compressed, and rounded body. They are dimorphic. Females are lighter in color with the following characteristics: their upper head and body are mottled with blotches of olive-brown to red-brown; their cheeks and gill covers are covered with pale spots; several pale lines radiate from behind their eyes; their tail has wavy bars; and their other fins are uniformly colored. Males are darker in color; they have black dorsal fins with orange blotches at the rear and turn dark violet to black when breeding. Juveniles have brown blotches at the rear, pale stripes at the front of their body, and a pale blotch bordered by a dark bar on the outer half of their first dorsal fin. Their head has a rounded snout with a large depression below and in front of their eyes. They have an oblique terminal mouth that extends to the middle of the eyes and is equipped with teeth set in bands. Their anal fin has 1 spine and 9 rays; their caudal fin is rounded; their first dorsal fin has 6 spines, the fourth of which being the longest; their second dorsal fin has 1 spine and 10 rays; their pectoral fins have 16 to 20 rays and are elongated reaching past the anal fin origin; and, their pelvic fins are fused into a disc. They and covered with large rough scales. They do not have a lateral line.
The Crested Goby is non-migratory and found in tidal pools along coastal waters including mangrove areas and sheltered seagrass beds in both coastal and freshwater environments at depths up to 6 m (20 feet). They reach a maximum of 11.0 cm (4.3 inches) in length. They feed on algae, bivalves, crustaceans, gastropods, and worms. In turn they are preyed upon by a wide variety of carnivores. They reproduce as protogynous hermaphrodites with pelagic larvae. The Crested Goby is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Crested Goby is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean that includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. They are one of the few species to have made its way through the Panama Canal and can also be found in Panamanian waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The Crested Goby is similar to and can be confused with the Bartail Goby, Coryphopterus thrix, the Bridled Goby, Coryphopterus glaucofraenum, and the Colon Goby, Coryphopterus dicrus, but none of them have a crest on their upper nape.
From a conservation perspective the Crested Goby is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Due to their small stature they are of limited interest to most.