River Goby: Facts & Habitat

About River Goby

Awaous banana, the river goby, is a species of goby native to fresh and brackish water stream and rivers from the southern United States through Central America to Venezuela and Peru. This species can reach a length of 30 centimetres (12 in) SL. It is important to local commercial fisheries.

IntroducedFresh Brackish3 states

Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Awaous banana (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Range

Where it lives

66%of mapped records

Share of 47 GBIF observation records with a state location, across 3 states.

Share of records by state

Habitat

Water and movement

Water: WoRMS records this species in fresh water and brackish water.
Migration: Migratory
Pattern: Catadromous — spawns at sea, grows in fresh water
Amphidromous — moves between fresh water and the sea, but not to spawn
Disagreement: 4 published references do not agree on the pattern: Amphidromous, Catadromous. The site shows every assignment rather than picking one.

Classification

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Superclass: Actinopterygii
Class: Teleostei
Order: Perciformes
Family: Gobiidae
Genus: Awaous
Species: Awaous banana
ITIS TSN: 553409
WoRMS AphiaID: 277417
GBIF key: 5208771
Outside the US: ITIS also files it in Central Pacific Territories.

Common questions about River Goby

What is the scientific name of River Goby?

The scientific name is Awaous banana, in the family Gobiidae. Classification follows ITIS.

Does River Goby live in fresh water or salt water?

WoRMS records this species in fresh water and brackish water.

Where has River Goby been recorded in the United States?

GBIF has observations in 3 states, with the most records in Florida, North Carolina, Texas. The map shows observation records, which do not establish the complete natural range.

Closest relatives