Eucyclogobius newberryi (Northern Tidewater Goby)
Credit: Brenton Spies
about the species
The northern tidewater goby, Eucyclogobius newberryi (family Gobionellidae), are small (<62mm) annual fish species endemic to California. These benthic associated species in-habit shallow, brackish water estuaries and lagoons throughout the California coast, spanning from Del Norte to Los Angeles County. The vast majority of the coastal wetlands inhabited by the tidewater goby are partially or completely isolated from marine tidal in-fluence due to the intermittent formation of sandbars at the estuary mouths.
why species was selected
The federally endangered tidewater goby is the only vertebrate that is exclusively associated with, and adapted to, closing estuarine systems in California. This fish has an unusual evolutionary dynamic associated with limitations on dispersal related to the intermit-tent mouth closure. Genetic data show that both tidewater goby species are subdivided in-to regional clades, which are further subdivided into long-isolated entities known as sub-clades. Clades and subclades exhibit regionally distinct metapopulation processes.
