Ocellated River Goby

Interesting Info

• The Ocellated River Goby is found in tidal rivers and freshwater creeks of Queensland, the Northern Territory, and northern Western Australia.
• In addition to Australia, they are distributed widely across the Indo-West Pacific, from India and Southeast Asia to Papua New Guinea, and Pacific islands.
• Their body is olive-brown to sandy grey with darker blotches, and they often show a small dark spot (“ocellus”) at the base of the tail, which gives the species its name.
• Males and females look similar, but males are usually larger and may display more intense markings during the breeding season.
• Their diet is mainly algae, detritus, and small invertebrates scraped from rocks and sand.
• They prefer clear, flowing rivers with sandy or rocky substrates, often moving between estuarine and freshwater sections of large river systems.
• The species is amphidromous: adults live and spawn in freshwater, but the tiny larvae drift downstream to the sea, where they grow before migrating back upstream as juveniles.
• Breeding is thought to occur during the wet season, with males establishing and guarding nests where females lay adhesive eggs on rocks or in gravel.
• The Ocellated River Goby is a large, elongated goby that can reach 30–35 cm (12–14 in) in length, making it one of the biggest gobies in Australian rivers.
• The lifespan is estimated at 3–5 years, longer than smaller goby species but still relatively short-lived for a fish of its size.