The Japanese Goby is similar to Krefft’s Goby

I have been helping Catherine McMahon from Port River Shellfish Restoration Project to monitor oysters being kept in baskets in the Port River system. One interesting aspect of the monitoring is the marine life that turns up in the oyster baskets. We have found fish, shells, pygmy squid, nudibranchs, flatworms, shrimps, blue-ringed octopus, etc..

I have been pleased to find a Krefft’s Frillgoby in a basket a couple of times. This stems from the first time that I had heard of them. I had come across another species of fish that was suggested as possibly being a Krefft’s Frillgoby at the time. It turned out to be a Congolli.

Certainly, I have written about this several times, including the articles at:

https://mlssa.org.au/2017/06/13/congolli-pseudaphritis-urvillii/

https://mlssa.org.au/2017/03/25/further-discoveries-at-the-ships-graveyard/

https://mlssa.org.au/2017/10/16/kreffts-frillgoby-bathygobius-krefftii/

I found another specimen of Krefft’s Frillgoby in an oyster basket recently. I had the identification of it confirmed via iNaturalist. That, in itself, wasn’t overly exciting, but I did get a bit excited when I discovered that the Krefft’s Frillgoby is very similar to an invasive species of Japanese fish that may be introduced into our waters by overseas ships. My two recent Krefft’s Frillgoby discoveries were both at a shipping wharf at Outer Harbor.

Glancing through a couple of old “Introduced Marine Pest Guides” I came across references to the Japanese Goby, Tridentiger trigonocephalus. The fish was listed in both a collection of Marine Pest Identification Cards issued by the NSW Department of Primary Industries, and “A Guide to the Introduced Marine Species in Australian Waters” published by the Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP).

It turned out that the Japanese Goby was the first card in the Marine Pest Identification Cards folder. The front of the card featured two very contrasting photos of a Japanese Goby. This first photo looks nothing whatsoever like a Krefft’s Frillgoby: –

This second photo, however, does resemble a Krefft’s Frillgoby a little: –

These four Australian native fish species similar to the Japanese Goby are featured on the back of the card: –

The second fish shown is a Krefft’s Frillgoby.

The CRIMP Guide to the Introduced Marine Species in Australian Waters shows these two photos of a Japanese Goby: –

This time, the second photo looks nothing whatsoever like a Krefft’s Frillgoby. The first photo, however, does resemble a Krefft’s Frillgoby a little. For comparison, here are some of my recent photos of the ‘Krefft’s Frillgoby’ found at Outer Harbor: –

The Japanese Goby is said to compete with native Australian species. We need to be on our guard and keep any eye out for them.

I sent an email message to Marine Pest Sectoral Committee – Secretariat mpsc@agriculture.gov.au saying, “We believe that we have been finding specimens of Godiva quadricolor in the Port River at Garden Island. A photo of the most recent sighting is attached.

We have also been finding what we believe to be Bathygobius krefftii in the Port River at Outer Harbor. But these specimens could possibly be the similar Tridentiger trigonocephalus. Photos are attached for your perusal. Regards, Steve Reynolds”

I soon received a response saying, “Hi Steve, thank you for taking the time to report these potential marine pests. We have forwarded the information to the Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia, who will conduct an investigation into these reports and may contact you for further details.

 Please send through any further reports of suspected to marine pests to this email or within South Australia via phone to the Fishwatch hotline on 1800 065 522.  Kind regards, Cian “

(Cian Foster-Thorpe, Aquatic Pest and Health Policy, Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, GPO Box 858, Canberra ACT 2601)