knout goby
Mesogobius batrachocephalus (Pallas, 1814)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Mesogobius batrachocephalus, the knout goby or toad goby, is one of the species of gobiid fish native to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov basins. It lives in estuaries and brackish water lagoons, occasionally in fresh waters, such as the coastal Lake Siutghiol in Romania. It prefers areas near cliffs with sandy, shelly or rocky substrates at depths of from 20 to 60 metres (66 to 197 ft), sometimes down to 100 metres (330 ft). The knout goby is a piscivore. It can reach a length of 34.5 centimetres (13.6 in) SL and weight of 600 grams (1.3 lb). Maximum known age is eight years.
Wikipedia contributors, Mesogobius batrachocephalus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:53:33.930528+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mesogobius batrachocephalus (Pallas, 1814)
- Name authority
- (Pallas, 1814)
- Common name
- knout goby
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Gobiiformes
- Family
- Gobiidae
- Genus
- Mesogobius
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderGobiiformes
- familyGobiidae Cuvier, 1816
- subfamilyGobiinae Cuvier, 1816
- genusMesogobius Bleeker, 1874
- speciesMesogobius batrachocephalus (Pallas, 1814)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mesogobius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Mesogobius nigronotatus (Kessler, 1877) | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mesogobius nonultimus (Iljin, 1936) | GobiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Gobius batrachocephalus Pallas, 1814 Pallas, 1814 | synonym |
| Neogobius batrachocephalus (Pallas, 1814) (Pallas, 1814) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=126909 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:423L9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.