Naked Goby - Not a Baby Snakehead

Type: Tidal
Region: Southern
Location: Neale Sound, Cobb Island

My son caught this baby snakehead in his minnow trap on Neale Sound near Cobb Island, MD.

DNR Response: The photo submitted is actually a naked goby; which is a very common little fish in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. They are a tiny fish that reaches a maximum size of about 2-1/2� and is very secretive; often hiding in oyster shell bars and various bottom debris and sea grass. They can be identified by 9 to 11 vertical dark bars on their sides. Their pelvic fins are shaped into suction like disc that helps them hold on to oyster shells. They often lay their eggs in a dead gaped oyster on the inside of the upper shell and males guard the nest aggressively. Naked gobies can also be found in company of two other small common inhabitants of oyster reefs; the striped blenny and skilletfish. There are over 2,000 species of gobies and most are tropical; the naked goby can be found from New York to Texas. There are two other species of gobies found in the Chesapeake Bay, the seaboard and the green goby which are not as common.