Freshwater Mangrove Goby

Interesting Info

• The Freshwater Mangrove Goby is found in Queensland’s coastal rivers and swamps, often near mangroves and paperbark wetlands.
• Its body is slender, semi-transparent, and patterned with faint brown bands or mottling that help it blend into mangrove roots and swampy creek bottoms.
• Unlike most gobies, which are either strictly freshwater or marine, this species is comfortable in both, thriving in freshwater wetlands, mangrove creeks, and brackish estuaries.
• Adults usually live in very shallow water, often just a few centimetres deep, hiding among leaf litter, submerged vegetation, or muddy mangrove roots.
• Their diet is mainly tiny aquatic invertebrates such as insect larvae, micro-crustaceans, and worms picked from mud and detritus.
• Freshwater Mangrove Gobies are shy and cryptic, darting quickly for cover when disturbed, which makes them hard to spot even in clear water.
• Breeding is likely seasonal, with females laying adhesive eggs on hard surfaces and males guarding the clutch until hatching.
• Although widespread across northern Queensland wetlands, they are vulnerable to habitat loss through drainage of swamps, clearing of mangroves, and poor water quality.
• They play an important role as a link between mangrove estuaries and freshwater wetlands, helping to recycle nutrients between habitats.
• The lifespan is short, probably 1–2 years, like most small tropical gobies.