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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: chameleon goby
Synonyms and Other Names: shimahaze, striped tripletooth goby
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Eschmeyer et al. (1983). Distinguishing characteristics were also provided by Masuda et al. (1984), Akhito and Sakamoto (1989), and Matern and Fleming (1995). Color photographs appeared in Masuda et al. (1984) and in Akihito and Sakamoto (1989). Tridentiger bifasciatus, formerly considered a synonym, was resurrected by Akihito and Sakamoto (1989).
Size: 11 cm.
Native Range:
Brackish and marine waters of China, Korea, and Japan (Courtenay et al. 1986; Meng et al. 1994).
Nonindigenous Occurrences: The species first was recorded in 1960 when two individuals were observed on a rock jetty in Los Angeles Harbor, California (Haaker 1979; Matern and Fleming 1995). In 1962 another specimen was taken from the Redwood City docks in the southern portion of San Francisco Bay (museum specimen; Meng et al. 1994; Matern and Fleming 1995; Carlton 1985). The fish also occurs in Lake Merritt in Oakland (which is connected to San Francisco Bay) (Shapovalov et al. 1981; Courtenay et al. 1986), and in Los Angeles Harbor (Haaker 1979; Eschmeyer et al. 1983). It was collected in Suisun Bay and the San Joaquin Basin in 1987 (Raquel 1988).
Means of Introduction: The initial introduction may have been as fertilized eggs on introduced Japanese oysters (Courtenay et al. 1984, 1986, 1991) or from ballast water (Eschmeyer et al. 1983).
Status: Established in California. Recently, chameleon goby populations in San Francisco Bay have plummeted, possibly because of predation by yellowfin gobies (Meng et al. 1994). Because adults spawn 3-4 months after the piscivorous yellowfin goby, their young are vulnerable (Wang 1986).
Impact of Introduction: Unknown.
Remarks:
Some reports in the literature referring to T. trigonocephalus collections made in freshwater in California (i.e., Meng et al. 1994) should actually refer to T. bifasciatus (Matern and Fleming 1995). This goby gets its name from its ability to rapidly change colors from a striped to a barred pattern (Eschmeyer et al. 1983). Tridentiger trigonocephalus is more common in marine environments than is T. bifasciatus; it is rarely found in salinities less than 22 ppt. (Matern and Fleming 1995; Fleming, personal communication).
Voucher specimens: California (CAS 27011); two other specimens, LACM 45016-1 and LACM 45688-1, should be re-examined in light of the discovery of T. bifasciatus.
Akihito and K. Sakamoto. 1989. Reexamination of the status of the striped goby. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 36(1):100-112.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., D. A. Hensley, J. N. Taylor, and J. A. McCann. 1984. Distribution of exotic fishes in the continental United States. Pages 41-77 in W. R. Courtenay, Jr., and J. R. Stauffer, Jr., editors. Distribution, biology and management of exotic fishes. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., D. A. Hensley, J. N. Taylor, and J. A. McCann. 1986. Distribution of exotic fishes in North America. Pages 675-698 in C. H. Hocutt, and E. O. Wiley, editors. The zoogeography of North American freshwater fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., D. P. Jennings, and J. D. Williams. 1991. Appendix 2: exotic fishes. Pages 97-107 in Robins, C. R., R. M. Bailey, C. E. Bond, J. R. Brooker, E. A. Lachner, R. N. Lea, and W. B. Scott. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada, 5th edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 20. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.
Eschmeyer, W. N., E. S. Herald, and H. Hamann. 1983. A field guide to Pacific Coast fishes of North America. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.
Haaker, P. 1979. Two asiatic gobiid fishes, Tridentiger trigonocephalus and Acanothogobius flavimans, in southern California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Science 78:56-61.
Herbold, B. A., A. D. Jassby, and P. B. Moyle. 1992. Status and trends report on aquatic resources in the San Francisco estuary. EPA Public Report, San Francisco, CA.
Masuda, H., K. Amaoka, C. Araga, T. Uyeno, and T. Yoshino, editors. 1984. The fishes of the Japanese Archipelago. Tokai University Press. Text: i-xxii + 437 pp.; atlas: pls. 1-370.
Matern, S. A., and K. J. Fleming. 1996. Invasion of a third Asian goby species, Tridentiger bifasciatus, into California. California Fish and Game 81(2):71-76.
Meng, L., P. B. Moyle, and B. Herbold. 1994. Changes in abundance and distribution of native and introduced fishes of Suisun Marsh. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 123:498-507.
Shapovalov, L., A.J. Cordone, and W.A. Dill. 1981. A list of freshwater and anadromous fishes of California. California Fish and Game. 67(1): 4-38.
Wang, J. C. S. 1986. Fishes of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary and adjacent waters, California: a guide to early life histories. Technical Report 9. Interagency Ecological Study Program for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary, Sacramento, CA.
Other Resources:
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Leo Nico and Pam Fuller
Revision Date: 4/24/2006 Citation for this information:
Leo Nico and Pam Fuller. 2009. Tridentiger trigonocephalus. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=717> Revision Date: 4/24/2006
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