Swan River Goby
Scientific name
Pseudogobius olorum
 |
The Swan River Goby |
Common Name
Swan River Goby
Conservation Status
It is too abundant and well-distributed to warrant an inclusion in the Australian Society for Fish Biology's list of Australian threatened fishes.
Identification
Small sub-terminal mouth; naked cheeks; max size is 60mm; light brown, pale ventraly; seven to nine lateral dark blotches; dorsal and cordal fins have brown/black reticulating lines; transparent pectoral fin; pelvis and anal fins pale, turning dark blue/black during breeding season.
Distribution
Found in coastal water bodies in South Western Australia, Western Victoria and South Australia. In Western Australia they are found from Kalbarri to Esperence.
Abundance, Habitat and Ecology
Very abundant in most of its range, found in; estuaries, rivers, streams and both fresh and hypersaline lakes. In the Swan Estuary, algae and mats of bacteria and fungi are major dietary components in spring, summer and winter. In the freshwater lakes of the Swan Coastal Plain it feeds predominately on animal taxa. It can tolerate extreme salinity and temperature. The life cycle is generally less than a year.
Reproduction
In the Swan River Estuary it spawns in spring and autumn and sometimes in summer. Most of the spring-spawned group frequently spawn in the following autumn, while the autumn spawned group usually spawn the following spring. Few groups live to spawn in a second season.
Top |