Habitat 
Depth 
Group 
Role WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
The golden goby is a small fish, seldom exceeding ten centimetres. Its body is generally golden yellow, with two separate dorsal fins and sometimes reddish shades behind the head. Some dominant males have a dark mark near the pectoral fin.
Its appearance varies geographically. In the northern Adriatic, one form has numerous red dashes over a yellow background. It can resemble the yellow-headed goby, whose body is usually greyer or pinkish beige. This similarity accounts for some past confusion between the species.
WHERE DOES IT LIVE?
It inhabits rocky seabeds beside patches of sand, generally between ten and eighty metres deep. Small gaps in the terrain allow it to vanish quickly when an observer approaches. It can also swim just above the bottom.
The French Mediterranean coast, the Adriatic and the Aegean are part of its known range. Along the French coast, many sightings come from the Alpes-Maritimes.
WHAT DOES IT EAT?
The golden goby eats small crustaceans, including copepods, as well as worms and gastropods, the mollusc group that includes snails. Its food consists of animals considerably smaller than itself.
Available accounts describe these broad prey categories. They do not support assigning it a diet made up exclusively of one particular crustacean or mollusc species.
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