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Fish guide

Black goby

Gobius niger · Small fish and rockpool species

Also called goby

Black goby
Photo: Etrusko25, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
What fish is this?Identify a fish from a photo

A medium-sized goby of sand and mud in shallow coastal and estuary waters, rarely on the shore. It is probably under-recorded in the UK.[1]

How to recognise it

  • Thick-set head, about a quarter of the body length, dark grey or brown with lighter marks.[1]
  • Two dorsal fins, each with a small black mark at the front.[1]
  • Looks like the rock goby, but the black goby lives on sand and mud, not rock, and has a much larger first dorsal fin.[2]

When and where

Found over
sand, mud, estuary, eelgrass[1]

Sources

  1. MarLIN: Black goby
  2. MarLIN: Rock goby

These notes are a draft: we gathered them from the sources above and are still checking them. We don't work out best times for this fish yet. The size rules come from the same checked byelaws as every other fish.

Size and bag limit

Minimum size
Sizes vary along the coast. Pick your spot to see the rule there.
Bag limit
None set for the whole UK.
Minimum sizes around the UK
AreaMinimum size
Kent & Essex IFCANone
Sussex IFCANone
Southern IFCANone
Devon & Severn IFCANone
Cornwall IFCANone
Isles of Scilly IFCANot checked yet
North Western IFCANone
North Eastern IFCANot checked yet
Northumberland IFCANot checked yet
Eastern IFCANone
Welsh GovernmentNot checked yet
Scottish GovernmentNot checked yet
DAERA (Northern Ireland)Not checked yet