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Babka gymnotrachelus (Kessler, 1857)

Racer goby
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Babka gymnotrachelus
Male picture by Mikhov, S.D.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Gobiiformes (Gobies) > Gobiidae (Gobies) > Gobiinae
Eponymy: Russian slang for an old woman or grandmother, and a local name for gobies. (Ref. 128868), visit book page.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic. Temperate; 4°C - 20°C (Ref. 2059); 49°N - 40°N, 25°E - 54°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eurasia: Widespread all over the Marmara, Black and Caspian seas basins; inhabits mostly fresh- and brackish waters with low salinity (<2%).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 6 - ? cm
Max length : 16.2 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2058); max. reported age: 5 years (Ref. 59043)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 7 - 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 14 - 18; Anal spines: 1; Anal soft rays: 12 - 16. This species is distinguished from its congeners entering freshwater in Europe by the following characters: irregular position and shape of diagonal bars on body; first branched ray of second dorsal about as long as penultimate ray; no scales on midline of nape, in front of preoperculum; pelvic-disc fraenum with small rounded lobes and the length is less than 1/6 of width at base; scales in midlateral series 54-62 + 2-3; posterior part of first dorsal without black spot (Ref. 59043).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in brackish- and fresh-water habitats with low salinity (< 2 ppt); lagoons and lakes; large rivers to small, fast-flowing streams; on sand or mud bottom; mainly in well vegetated or high-complexity habitats. Abundant in backwaters and still channels (Ref. 59043). Longevity is 4-5 years; spawns for the first time at 2 years; spawning season in April to June, occasionally until mid-August; females may repeat spawning during a season; usually spawns for a single season. Males guard eggs until hatching; with adhesive eggs deposited on stones, shells and aquatic plants (Ref. 59043). Feeds on crustaceans (esp. Corophiid amphipods), aquatic insects (mostly chironomid larvae), polychaetes, also small fish and mollusks (Ref. 4696).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Adhesive eggs are deposited on stones, shells and aquatic plants. Males guard eggs until hatching (Ref.59043).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Miller, P.J., 1986. Gobiidae. p. 1019-1085. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Volume 3. UNESCO, Paris. (Ref. 4696)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 January 2008

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 1.0000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00708 (0.00423 - 0.01184), b=3.09 (2.95 - 3.23), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 1.8 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (23 of 100).