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| This specimen is in the collections of the National Museum in Prague and is under CC-by license. |
Gobius kolombatovici is a very colorful and remarkable
species, but even so, was discovered only recently (in 2000) by Kovačić
and Miller in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, in Kvarner Gulf. For seven
years this species was considered to be endemic to Kvarner Gulf, but in 2007 it
was also discovered by Francour and Mangialajo near the south coast of France.
The last records about a new occurrence of G.
kolombatovici are from the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas. Apparently this species
is rather common in the Mediterranean Sea. Its late discovery could be caused
by water depth in which it lives, between 15 – 90 m, and by its timid nature -
it hides very quickly when spotting a diver.
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| This specimen is in the collections of the National Museum in Prague and is under CC-by license. |
This
species is rarely represented in collections. Displayed specimens are from the
Adriatic Sea, close to Krk Island and are stored in the collections of the
National Museum in Prague.
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| Gobius kolombatovici specimens on Europeana portal http://bit.ly/P5tPWx. |
As we mentioned,
gobies is a very abundant family of fish. The species are mostly smaller than
10 cm in length, some even less than 1 cm long when fully grown, which classify
these species among the smallest vertebrates in the world. The largest gobies
can reach over 30 cm in length, but that is exceptional. Gobies are not
commonly served in fish restaurants, but they are an important prey species for
fish like cod or haddock. Some gobies, like bumblebee gobies are also of
interest as aquarium fish.
