Some life history aspects of the seaboard goby (gobiosoma ginsburgi) in Rhode Island

This paper represents the first report of adultG. ginsburgi from Rhode Island waters since 1938. Gobies were collected only from subtidal shell communities in high salinity waters. Seaboard gobies eat a variety of benthic invertebrates but feed most heavily on harpacticoid copepods. Gravid females collected in July contained one size class of ova indicating a single spawning per season. Egg counts ranged from 1268 to 1977 per female. Larval densities indicate that peak spawning occurs in July and suggest thatG. ginsburgi is more abundant in the Sakonnet River and nearby Narragansett Bay than previously reported.