Pterogobius virgo
Amazing fact
A Nishiki goby defends just the small pit it has dug in the seabed as its feeding territory.
한국연구재단（KCI）／한국어류학회
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A Nishiki goby defends just the small pit it has dug in the seabed as its feeding territory.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Pterogobius virgo
- Scientific name
- Pterogobius virgo
- Japanese name
- ニシキハゼ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Gobiiformes
- Family
- Gobiidae
- Genus
- Pterogobius
It lives along the Sea of Japan from Akita to Kyushu, on the Pacific side from Chiba to Mie, in the Seto Inland Sea and around the Korean Peninsula.
Slightly above the middle of its side, it has an orange lengthwise band edged with blue lines.
How the Pterogobius virgo lives
It digs sand and mud with its fins while staying in place, eating the small animals hidden there. A multicolorfin rainbowfish sometimes intrudes and eats the animals flushed out by the digging. When feeding with a multicolorfin rainbowfish, it tends to spend less time watching its surroundings.
한국연구재단（KCI）／한국어류학회Basic data
- Range
- Sea of Japan and East China Sea from Akita to western Kyushu, Seto Inland Sea, Beppu Bay, Korean Peninsula, Jeju, and elsewhere
Where the Pterogobius virgo has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ニシキハゼ
- Español
- Gobio damisela
- Português (Brasil)
- Góbio-donzela
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — ニシキハゼChecked: 2026-11-04
- 한국연구재단（KCI）／한국어류학회 — 금줄망둑 Pterogobius virgo의 섭식세력권과 용치놀래기 Halichoeres poecilopterus의 침입 서식Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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