Tubenose goby (Proterorhinus semilunaris) is another alien goby from the Black Sea basin that dwells in Belarusian southern rivers. Unlike other Ponto-Caspian invaders (for example, racer goby from the adjacent photo) entered Belarus by their natural expansion eased by the hydroconstruction, the tubenose goby most likely was accidentally transported by the ships into the Pripyat' river near Pinsk. It started to expand up- and downstream through the river before it entered the lower Belarusian part of the Dnieper river.
The fish sitting on the hornwort (Ceratophyllum) branch is the tubenose goby (Proterorhinus semilunaris) caught in Dnieper near Rechitsa and kept in our lab's aquarium now. It's easy to identify this species: its nostrils are surrounded by elongated tubes, in contrast with all other gobies of Belarus.
