The round goby is a fish. Defined as a euryhaline bottom-dwelling goby of the family Gobiidae, it is native to central Eurasia, including the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Round gobies have established large non-native populations in the Baltic Sea, several major Eurasian rivers, and the North American Great Lakes.
Mesogobius is one of the genera of benthophiline gobiid fishes native to the basins of the Black and Caspian Seas.
Neogobius is a genus of goby native to Black Sea and the Caspian Sea basins. It is part of the broader Benthophilinae subfamily which is also endemic to the same region. Nevertheless, two Neogobius species have recently turned out to be highly invasive and spread across Europe and even to the Great Lakes of North America.
Proterorhinus marmoratus is a species of gobiid fish, a tubenose goby native to the brackish water parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, near the coasts of Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Ukraine and Russia. Also it is found in the Marmora Sea (Turkey). It can reach a length of 11.5 centimetres (4.5 in) TL.
The Chornaya tubenose goby is a species of goby endemic to Crimea, Ukraine where it is only found in a short stretch of River Chornaya. Water is extracted in large quantities for irrigation could cause the stream to completely dry out in summer and thus poses a critical risk of extinction in a near future.
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia, south of the fertile plains of Southern Russia in Eastern Europe, and north of the mountainous Iranian Plateau of Western Asia. It covers 371,000 km2 (143,000 sq mi) and a volume of 78,200 km3 (19,000 cu mi). It has a salinity of approximately 1.2%, about a third that of average seawater. It is bounded by Kazakhstan from mid-north to mid-east, Russia from mid-north to mid-west, Azerbaijan to the southwest, Iran to the south and adjacent corners, and Turkmenistan along southern parts of its eastern coast.
The western tubenose goby is a species of goby native to fresh waters of the Black Sea and Aegean Sea basins,. It has recently spread as an invasive species to Central and Western Europe and to North America. Previously Proterorhinus semilunaris was considered as a junior synonym of Proterorhinus marmoratus, but was confirmed as a distinct species based on molecular analysis.
Ponticola is a genus of gobies native mostly to fresh waters of the Black Sea - Caspian Sea region in Eurasia. Some species occur in the brackish-water Black and Caspian seas themselves. It was considered to be part of the broader goby subfamily Benthophilinae, also endemic to the same region, although the 5th edition of Fishes of the World does not list any subfamilies in the Gobiidae. Originally, Ponticola was described as subgenus of Neogobius.
The tadpole-gobies (Benthophilus), also called pugolovkas, are a genus of Ponto-Caspian fishes in the family Gobiidae.
Proterorhinus is a genus of fishes, known as the tubenose gobies. These gobiid fish are native to Eurasia where they occur in the region of the Caspian and Black seas, inhabiting marine, brackish and fresh waters. The species Proterorhinus semilunaris was introduced to the St. Clair River in Michigan during the late 1990s. Until recently, the genus was considered monotypic, comprising only the tubenose goby. Following molecular and further morphological investigations it has been split into several taxa, with distinct distributions in marine vs. fresh waters and in the Black Sea vs. Caspian Sea basins.
The eastern tubenose goby is a species of gobiid fish native to fresh and brackish waters of the basins of the Sea of Azov and the Caspian Sea and has invaded the upper reaches of the Volga River from its native occurrence in the delta. This species prefers slow flowing rivers or still waters with plentiful rocks or vegetation. It can reach a length of 9 centimetres (3.5 in) SL. It is probably the same species as that recently treated as Proterorhinus semipellucidus.
Ponticola cyrius, the Kura goby, is a species of gobiid fish endemic to the Kura River in the southern Caucasus countries of Georgia, Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan. It reaches a length of 13 centimetres (5.1 in) SL. It lives in the upper parts of the Kura River, Massuleh River and the Pasikhan River and in the Anzali Mordab (Iran). Downstream in Kura it is replaced by Ponticola gorlap.
Ponticola gorlap, or the Caspian bighead goby, is a species of goby, a benthic fish native to the Caspian Sea basin. It is widespread in lower parts of many rivers in Iran, and also found in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. In Russia, it occurred in the lowest part of the Volga River up to Astrakhan until 1977, but has thereafter spread upstream. In 2000 it was recorded as being established in the Ivankovo and Rybinsk Reservoirs in the Moscow region, and already invaded the Don drainage by way of the Volga-Don Canal in 1972. This species occurs in sheltered environments, such as inshore fresh or brackish waters of estuaries, lagoons, lakes and large rivers, where it prefers habitats with a well vegetated rock or firmly packed sand substrate. It can reach a length of 20 centimetres (7.9 in) SL, and a common size is 12 centimetres (4.7 in) SL.
The Benthophilinae are a subfamily of gobies endemic to the Ponto-Caspian region. The subfamily includes about 50 species. The representatives of the subfamily have fused pelvic fins and elongated dorsal and anal fins. They are distinguished from the closely related subfamily Gobiinae by the absence of a swimbladder in adults and location of the uppermost rays of the pectoral fins within the fin membrane.
Benthophilus pinchuki, Pinchuk's pugolovka, is a species of gobiid fish found along the eastern and western coasts of the Caspian Sea, but absent on the middle part. This species has been recorded along the western coast from the Absheron to Iran, and along the eastern coast near the Cape Bely Bugor, Turkmenistan.
Mesogobius nonultimus, or the Caspian toad goby, is one of the species of gobiid fish endemic to the brackish-waters Caspian Sea (lake). It will grow up to a length of 17.4 cm.
Mesogobius nigronotatus is a species of gobiid fish native to the Caspian Sea. It is only known from a couple of samples, from Kazakhstan and the southern part of the sea; the type material has been lost. It is suspected to be the same taxon as that known as Mesogobius nonultimus.
Benthophiloides turcomanus is a tiny species of gobiid fish native to the Caspian Sea. It is only known from two specimens collected from the waters of Turkmenistan at a depth of 27 metres (89 ft). The specimens, no longer than 3 centimetres (1.2 in) TL, have since been lost.
Hyrcanogobius bergi, the Volga dwarf goby, is a species of goby endemic to the Caspian Sea where it occurs in fresh, brackish and marine waters along the coast. Unusually for gobies, this species is almost a pelagic fish. This species grows to a length of 3.6 centimetres (1.4 in) SL. This species is the only known member of its genus. The specific name honours the Soviet zoologist Lev Berg (1876-1950) who described many new species of goby from the Caspian Sea.
