Round Goby
The round goby is a small benthic fish originally from the Ponto‐Caspian region of Europe. This fish first invaded North America and northern Europe via accidental transfer in the ballast water of ships. This species has spread with unprecedented speed. Round goby are extremely tolerant of a wide range of temperatures, and water conditions. They also have a generalist diet including mollusks. Since round goby eat large numbers of contaminant ‐ bioconcentrating dreissenid mussels (which few other fish in the Great Lakes can consume), and because they have become an important item in the diets of many predators, the round goby is a contaminant vector in the Great Lakes food webs. As a result of their abundance, benthic diets and habits with small home ranges they encounter long-term exposure to sediments, making the round goby a highly suitable sentinel species for habitat contamination. Members of ABEL study the invasive round goby to better understand invasion biology, their impacts on native species and also to understand how environmental contaminants influence animal behaviour and in turn ecosystem health. Most of this research centers around round goby populations in Hamilton Harbour.
See our Photo Gallery of ABEL work on Round Gobies
Here are a few representative ABEL papers on this species:
-
Marentette, J.R., Tong, S., Balshine S. 2012. "The cortisol stress response in the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus): effects of living in polluted environments?". Environmental Biology of Fishes, doi: 10.1007/s10641-012-0064-8
-
Groen, M., Sopinka, N.M., Marentette, J.R., Reddon, A.R., Brownscombe, J., Fox, M.G., Marsh-Rollo, S.E., Balshine, S. 2012. "Is there a role for aggression in round goby invasion fronts?". Behaviour 149, 685-703
-
Marentette, J.R., Tong, S., Wang, G., Sopinka, N.M., Taves, M.D., Koops, M., & Balshine, S. 2011. "Laboratory and field evidence of sex-biased movement in the invasive round goby". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65, 2239-2249
-
Young, J.A.M., Marentette, J.R., Gross, C., McDonald, J.I., Verma, A., Marsh-Rollo, S.E., Macdonald, P.D.M., Earn, D.J.D., & Balshine, S. 2010. "Demography and substrate affinity of the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in Hamilton Harbour". Journal of Great Lakes Research, 36, 115-122
-
Marentette, J.R., Fitzpatrick, J.L., Berger, R.G., & Balshine, S. 2009. "Multiple male reproductive morphs in the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus)". Journal of Great Lakes Research, 35, 302-308
-
Velez-Espino, L.A.,Koops, M.A., & Balshine, S. 2010. "Invasion dynamics of round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario". Biological Invasions, 12, 3861-75
-
Balshine, S., Verma, A., Chant, V. & Theysmeyer, T. 2005. "Competitive interactions between round gobies and logperch". Journal of Great Lakes Research 31, 86-77