Rhinogobiops nicholsii
Blackeye Goby
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Gobiidae (Gobies)
Rhinogobiops
Rhinogobiops nicholsii (Blackeye Goby)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal. Caudal rounded.
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: Wales Island, northern British Columbia, Canada to Punta Rompiente, central Baja California, Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Marine. demersal. depth range 0-106 m.
Biology
Found usually in sandy areas near rocks. Occurs from intertidal areas to 106 m depth. Retreats to rocks or holes when approached. Young are found usually offshore among plankton. Oviparous (Ref. 56079). A protogynous hermaphrodite (Ref. 34256). Forms permanent harem groups composed of a single male and several smaller females (Ref. 55367). Eggs are guarded by the male (Ref. 56079).
Max length: 15.0 cm TL; max age: 5 years.
Reproductive mode: protogyny; fertilization: external; mating system: polygyny; guarders (nesters); parental care: paternal. Nesting occurs from April-October. Male cleans spawning site under rock, then attracts female by rising from bottom to display his black pelvic disk. Male guards nest after female lays eggs. Protogynous (Ref. 13452, 35501). Sex reversal is completed in less than 5 months (Ref. 34185, 34256). A monandric species (Ref. 55367). Length at sex change = 6.9 cm TL (Ref. 55367). Also Ref. 103751.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2024-02-15. Resilience: Medium (tmax=5).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: public aquariums.
References
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Hart, J.L. (1973) Pacific fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 180:740 p.
Lamb, A. and P. Edgell (1986) Coastal fishes of the Pacific northwest. Madeira Park, (BC, Canada): Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd., 224 p.
Allsop, D.J. and S.A. West (2003) Constant relative age and size at sex change for sequentially hermaphroditic fish. J. Evol. Biol. 16(2003):921-929.
Comments On Rhinogobiops nicholsii