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Fries's goby

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This shy fish lives in burrows in muddy seafloors, sometimes sharing them with nephrops.

Enw gwyddonol

Lesueurigobius friesii

Pryd i'w gweld

All year

Top facts

Categori

Stats

Up to 13cm long
Least Concern on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Habitats

Ynghylch

This small fish lives on muddy seabeds, in waters ranging from 10 to well over 100 metres deep. It feeds on worms, small crustaceans and molluscs. It digs u-shaped holes in the muddy floor, but will also share the burrows dug out by nephrops (Nephrops norvegicus, also known as scampi). Fries's gobies are found in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from West Africa to the top of Norway.

What to look for

A pretty, silvery-pink fish with violet hues and rows of distinctive golden spots along its body. It has yellow and blue bands along the top of its dorsal fin.

Where to find

Found on the western coasts of England, Wales and Scotland, including in Scottish sea lochs. Found around all Irish coasts.

Roeddech chi yn gwybod?

This fish is named after Dr Bengt Fredrik Fries, a Swedish zoologist and fish expert who lived from 1799–1839. It belongs to the genus 'Lesueurigobius', which is named in honour of French naturalist, explorer and artist Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1778–1846).