Sand goby

Sand goby
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gobiiformes
Family: Gobiidae
Genus: Pomatoschistus
Species:
P. minutus
Binomial name
Pomatoschistus minutus
(Pallas, 1770)
Synonyms
  • Gobius minutus Pallas, 1770
  • Pomatoschistus minutus minutus (Pallas, 1770)
  • Gobius gracilis Jenyns, 1835
  • Gobius unipunctatus Parnell, 1838
  • Gobius ekstromii Günther, 1861
  • Gobius elongatus Canestrini, 1862
  • Pomatoschistus minutus elongatus (Canestrini, 1862)
  • Gobius gracilis Cabrera, Pérez & Haenseler, 1868
  • Gobius cobitiformis Kessler, 1874
  • Gobius taalmankipii Hubrecht, 1878
  • Gobius minutus major Heincke, 1880
  • Gobius minutus guitelli É. Le Danois, 1913

The sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus), also known as a polewig or pollybait, is a species of ray-finned fish native to marine and brackish European waters from the Baltic Sea through the Mediterranean Sea and into the Black Sea where it occurs in sandy or muddy areas of inshore waters at depths of from 4 to 200 metres (13 to 656 ft). This species can reach a length of 11 centimetres (4.3 in) TL. This species is sometimes kept in public aquariums. The sand goby is of a sandy colour, with darker markings on the sides and a creamy-white underside. In the breeding season the male fish has blue spot at the rear of the first dorsal fin, ringed with white. The fish has a slender body, and the head is about a quarter of the total length.