Tidewater Goby

Tidewater goby

Rodeo Lagoon is monitored annually to track the health of its tidewater goby population.

The tidewater goby is a federally endangered fish species native to California found primarily in coastal lagoons, estuaries and marshes. They're a small, brackish water, benthic species, meaning they live on the bottom of shallow bodies of water with low to moderate salinity. The 1900s witnessed an approximately 50% disappearance of the goby. Human causes largely contributed to their declining population through habitat loss from water diversion, coastal development, water quality changes and introduced non-native predators.