• Norwegian: svartkutling

Characteristics:

This is by far the biggest goby in Norwegian waters, reaching a body length of 17 cm. The most obvious characteristic, besides the size, is that the fourth spine on the first dorsal fin is longer than the rest. Old males turn almost black, but brown with dark and bright spots are more common.

Habitat:

It prefers sand or gravel and is often seen scouting from its hiding place under a rock or in a crevice. The black goby does not mind the low salinity near estuaries and is common in all the big fjords on the west coast of Norway. It has not been reported below a depth of 65 meters.

Distribution:

The black goby is known from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean as well as from the Atlantic coasts from Mauritania to Norway and the Baltic Sea.