Bluegill bully
| Bluegill bully | |
|---|---|
| Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Eleotridae |
| Genus: | Gobiomorphus |
| Species: | G. hubbsi |
| Binomial name | |
| Gobiomorphus hubbsi (Stokell, 1959) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The bluegill bully (Gobiomorphus hubbsi) is a sleeper goby endemic to New Zealand. It is a specialist of shallow, fast-flowing riffles and torrents, where it lives amongst the gravels. It a similar distribution to the other endemic riffle specialist, the torrentfish.[1] The bluegill bully is the smallest of the Eleotrids, commonly reaching only 60–70 mm (2.4–2.8 in).[1]
It is named for the bright blue edge to the operculum or gill cover, which is present in both sexes. It eats aquatic invertebrates and has an upturned mouth, allowing them to pick invertebrates off the stones above them.[1]
They are amphidromous. The eggs are laid in fresh water and, on hatching, larvae are carried to sea for the first stage of their development.[2] The young fish return to fresh water after a few months and continue to slowly migrate upstream as they get older. Thus the largest bluegills are found furthest upstream.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 "NIWA Fish Atlas - Bluegill Bully". Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ↑ McDowall, R.M. (1990). New Zealand Freshwater Fishes: A natural history and guide. Auckland: Heinemann Reed. ISBN 0 7900 0022 9.
- ↑ Atkinson, N.K.; Joy, M.K. (2010). "Longitudinal size distributions of bluegill bullies (Gobiomorphus hubbsi) and torrentfish (Cheimarrichthys fosteri) in two large New Zealand rivers". New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 43 (2). doi:10.1080/00288330909510030.