CreatureData

Round goby

Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814)

Status not recordedbony fish

The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is a species in the family Gobiidae, order Gobiiformes.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the round goby

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the round goby live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the round goby as introduced in 24 countries, and flagged as invasive in 13 of them.

  1. Denmarkinvasive
  2. Finlandinvasive
  3. Franceinvasive
  4. Germanyinvasive
  5. Hungaryinvasive
  6. Indonesiainvasive
  7. Latviainvasive
  8. Lithuaniainvasive
  9. Mexicoinvasive
  10. Polandinvasive
  11. Serbiainvasive
  12. Slovakiainvasive
  13. Swedeninvasive
  14. Austria
  15. Belarus
  16. Belgium
  17. Canada
  18. Croatia
  19. Estonia
  20. Kazakhstan
  21. Luxembourg
  22. Netherlands
  23. Russia
  24. United States

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the round goby endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the round goby classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderGobiiformes
  5. familyGobiidae
  6. genusNeogobius
  7. SpeciesNeogobius melanostomus (Pallas, 1814)

Synonyms Apollonia melanostoma, Apollonia melanostomus affinis, Gobius affinis, Gobius cephalarges, Gobius chilo, Gobius exanthematicus, Gobius exanthematosus, Gobius grossholzii, Gobius lugens, Gobius melanio, Gobius melanostomus, Gobius melanostomus affinis, Gobius sulcatus, Gobius virescens, Neogobius cephalarges, Neogobius cephalarges cephalarges, Neogobius melanostoma, Neogobius melanostomus affinis, Ponticola cephalarges

Other names and names in other languages (51)
  • Eurasian round gobyEnglish
  • Girdə xulAzerbaijani
  • СтронгилBulgarian
  • hlaváč černoústýCzech
  • sortmundet kutlingDanish
  • SchwarzmundgrundelGerman
  • Νεογωβιός μελανόστομοςGreek
  • gobio pintadoSpanish
  • ÜmarmudilEstonian
  • گاو ماهيPersian
  • MustakitatokkoFinnish
  • gobie à taches noiresFrench
  • Glavočić okrugljakCroatian
  • feketeszájú gébHungarian
  • Ghiozzo a testa grossaItalian
  • Жумырбузаубас-былыкKazakh
  • juodažiotis grundalasLithuanian
  • Apvalusis grundalasLatvian
  • svartmunnet kutlingNorwegian Bokmål
  • zwartbekgrondelDutch
  • svartmunna kutlingNorwegian Nynorsk
  • babka byczaPolish
  • StronghilRomanian
  • Бычок круглякRussian
  • býčko čiernoústySlovak
  • главоч округлакSerbian
  • svartmunnad smörbultSwedish
  • kaya baligiTurkish
  • Бичок круглякUkrainian
  • Широкоглаво попчеBulgarian
  • hlaváč černotlamýCzech
  • Schwarzmund-GrundelGerman
  • gobio de boca negraSpanish
  • gobio redondoSpanish
  • Leina-uusmudilEstonian
  • گاوماهی_گرد_خزریPersian
  • mustatäplätokkoFinnish
  • Gobie à tache noireFrench
  • Apalais jurasgrundulisLithuanian
  • Apaļais jūrasgrundulisLatvian
  • Babka czarnopyskaPolish
  • Babka śniadogłowaPolish
  • StrunghilRomanian
  • Бычо́к-кругля́кRussian
  • бычок-круглякRussian
  • Benekli KayabalığıTurkish
  • Kocabaş KayabalığıTurkish
  • Kocabaşlı KayaTurkish
  • kumkaya baligiTurkish
  • kumkaya balığıTurkish
  • Бичок-круглякUkrainian

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the round goby

Other species in the same genus Neogobius.

Babka goby

Neogobius fluviatilis

GobiidaeNo free photo yet

White goby

Neogobius pallasi

GobiidaeNo free photo yet

CompareRound goby vs Babka gobyRound goby vs Caspian gobyRound goby vs White gobyRound goby vs Neogobius bettinae

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the round goby an invasive species?

In some places. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species flags the round goby as invasive in 13 countries, including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany and Hungary. It lists it as introduced in 24 in all.

What kind of animal is the round goby?

The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) belongs to the family Gobiidae in the order Gobiiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-13. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/round-goby

MLA

“Round goby (Neogobius melanostomus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/round-goby.

BibTeX
@misc{round_goby_2026,
  title = {Round goby (Neogobius melanostomus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/round-goby},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-13}
}