The percomorph fish clade Gobiiformes is a worldwide, tropical and temperate radiation with species occupying nearly all aquatic, and some semi-terrestrial, habitats. Early molecular phylogenetic studies led to the discovery of Gobiiformes, which contains Gobioidei, the gobies and sleepers, and a clade (Apogonoidei) consisting of Apogonidae and Kurtus, the cardinalfishes and nurseryfishes. Gobi...

Invasive round goby Neogobius melanostomus and bighead goby Ponticola kessleri have successfully colonized freshwater and coastal habitats worldwide. The objective was to use stable isotope analyses to study the foraging and movement of both species at small spatial scales in the Upper Danube River, considering 861 samples from two different years, seasons and sides of the river in an area wher...

The Adriatic Sea and drainage system (or region) is characterized by high levels of species richness. This especially applies to endemic fishes, as exemplified the sand gobies. However, diversity this group probably still underestimated. Several keys for gobiid identification, notably region, have been proposed on basis morphological characters, but difficulties persist in identification. Molec...

Mature specimens of the nematode Dichelyne (Cucullanellus) minutus (Rudolphi, 1819) (Ascaridida, Cucullanidae, Seuratoidea) were obtained from the intestine of flounder Platichthys flesus (L.) caught in the Oresund, Denmark. Plaice Pleuronectes platessa L. and common goby Pomatoschistus microps (Kröyer) also harbour this species. The eggs embryonate on the seabottom. Larvae about 440 microm lon...

We developed and tested eight polymorphic microsatellite loci for Ponto-Caspian 'neogobiin' gobies, many of which are invasive in Eurasia and North America, whose study will aid understanding of the population genetics underlying their success. We tested samples from one to two locations from 12 taxa in the recently revised genera Babka, Benthophilus, Mesogobius, Neogobius = Apollonia, Ponticol...

Hepatic ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity was measured in black gobies (Gobius niger) collected from seven sampling sites along the Slovenian coast during spawning and non-spawning periods. Sediments from the same sites were tested for their toxicity and for total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content. EROD activity was significantly higher during the non-spawning period in w...

Reproductive activities are often conspicuous and can increase the risk of predation. Evidence suggests that individuals are capable of responding to predators in a risk-sensitive manner. However, most studies tend to consider only the predator-mediated responses of males and females in isolation and with little regard to differences in local environmental conditions. Here, we experimentally in...

The structure of aquatic food webs has changed dramatically at the global scale. Overfishing, persistent chemical contamination, and the rapid spread of non-indigenous species have caused the loss of the “big fish”—traditional predator species that once formed the basis of the fishing industry. This decline in pelagic diversity, coupled with the effect of invasive species like the zebra mussel,...