Feeding
Round gobies usually feed nocturnally (but have been observed to feed diurnally as well) and are believed to detect prey only while stationary. The primary diet of round gobies includes mollusks, crustaceans, worms, fish eggs, zebra mussels, small fish, and insect larvae.
Adult round gobies feed mainly on mollusks. At spring, the main items in its diet in the Sasyk Lagoon are Hydrobia, Cerastoderma, Abra. In the same season near the Romanian coasts of the Black Sea the round goby feeds on polychaetes, crustaceans (Idothea balthica, Pachygrapsus marmoratus, Xantho poressa, etc.) and juvenile gobies. Near Sevastopol the round goby feeds on molluscs (Mytilaster lineatus, Abra spp.), but near Karadag except molluscs (Cerastoderma, Brachiodontes) were fishes.
In the Gulf of Odessa in the diet of the round goby are 23 items. Mytilus galloprovincialis, Setia pulcherrima, Mytilaster lineatus, Lentidium mediterraneum, Idothea balthica, and Alitta (Nereis) succinea dominate in spring. In summer are mainly Sphaeroma pulchellum and L. mediterraneum. Mussels M. galloprovincialis and M. lineatus have big importance in the diet in all seasons. The polychaetes are most elected component of benthos.
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