Oyster Missing, Fish Found

Type: Tidal
Region:
Location:

We had gotten a bunch of oysters for Easter and when opening them nothing was out of the ordinary until I tried to open this one and it popped open very easily only to find two little fish inside and no oyster...it appears that the fish must have eaten the oyster and it also appears that both fish are not the same species as well..... any information on this would be greatly appreciated.

DNR Response: The smaller fish is a naked goby and the larger fish is a blenny, most likely a striped blenny. The naked goby is a very common little fish in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries and is very secretive; often hiding in oyster shell bars and various bottom debris and sea grass. 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. These fish most likely did not eat the oyster, they were just inhabiting the oyster shell after it died.