Head to head
Rock Goby vs Sand Goby
Rock Goby
VS Sand Goby
The rock goby and the sand goby are two gobies of European shores that look nothing alike, because each is coloured and built for a very different kind of seabed.
| Rock Goby | Sand Goby | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Gobius paganellus | Pomatoschistus minutus |
| Relationship | A fellow goby, with the pelvic fins joined into a sucker disc | A fellow goby, with the pelvic fins joined into a sucker-like disc |
| Appearance | A stout, mottled brown body, a broad head, and a pale edge to the first dorsal fin, usually around 10 to 12 cm long | A pale, sandy, almost translucent body with small speckles, which makes it very hard to see against sand |
| Habitat | Rock pools, under stones on the lower shore, and rocky reefs below the tide line | Sandy bottoms in shallow coastal water and estuaries |
| Nest | The male guards eggs laid on the roof or sides of a crevice or the underside of a stone | The male digs a nest beneath an empty shell such as a bivalve half, covers it with sand, and guards the eggs inside |
| Lifestyle | Copes with the changes in temperature and salinity that occur in rock pools as the tide ebbs and flows | Lives for only one or two years, so the population depends on each year's breeding success |
| Diet | Small crustaceans, worms, and molluscs found among rocks and weed | Small crustaceans such as copepods and mysid shrimps, along with worms and other small animals |
| Conservation status | Least Concern, from the British Isles to Morocco and the Mediterranean | Least Concern, abundant in the north-eastern Atlantic, the North Sea, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean |
Rock Goby vs Sand Goby: common questions
Which goby lives on rocks?
The rock goby, which lives in rock pools and under stones on the lower shore, clinging on with its sucker-like pelvic fins.
Where does the sand goby lay its eggs?
In a chamber dug beneath an empty shell, which the male covers with sand and then guards.
Which one lives longest?
The sand goby lives for only one or two years, so it is the shorter-lived of the two.