Madeira Canary Islands Azores – Fishes Dr. Peter Wirtz

Up to 12 cm long. Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores. 1 – 10 m depth.
With more than 1500 species, the gobies are the largest fish family in the sea. In gobies of the genus Gobius,
the pectoral fins are united to form a sucker-like structure. As the name implies, the Rock goby lives on rocky
bottoms. The upper edge of the first dorsal fin frequently has a light to orange margin. Rock gobies can reach
an age of up to ten years. The closely related and on first glance very similar Madeira goby (Gobius
maderensis) (insert) has the same area of distribution and reaches the same size. It lives in very shallow
water, frequently in tide pools. Photos Peter Wirtz.
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Black goby (Gobius niger)
Up to 15 cm long. Canary Islands. 3 – 75 m depth.
The Black goby can be locally common on sandy bottom and in sea grass meadows. Territorial males are
pitch black. The Black goby reaches sexual maturity with two years and can attain five years of age. Photo
Peter Wirtz.
Yellowhead goby (Gobius xanthocephalus)
Up to 10 cm long. Canary Islands. 3 – 15 m depth.
On rocky and on soft bottoms; also in sea grass meadows. Photo Pedro Monteiro.
Steven’s goby (Gobius gasteveni)
Up to 12 cm long. Madeira, Canary Islands. 5 – 100 m depth.