New Detection Method for Goby Invasion

Ponto-Caspian goby (Neogobius melanostomus) - a male in spawning coloration. Usually, the gobies are grey-brown (as demonstrated in the photo gallery further down). University of Basel Conventional methods of stock monitoring are unsuitable for certain fish species. For example, the infestation of an area with invasive Ponto-Caspian gobies cannot be identified in time by standard methods. Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a simple, effective and cost-efficient test for these introduced non-native fish, they report in the magazine PLOS ONE. Gobies from the Black and Caspian Sea are spreading along the shipping routes in Central Europe and North America. They have been present in the Swiss part of the Rhine for about four years and already dominate the bottom of the stream in the region of Basel.