Reproduction Preferences Additional Information | - The sand goby becomes sexually mature at about 7 months to a year old (Miller, 1986; Bouchereau et al., 1990). At this time, individuals measure approximately 4 cm (Bouchereau et al., 1990). Reproduction involves repeat spawning between February and May in Britain, and March to July in the Baltic Sea (Miller, 1986). The female usually lays her eggs under empty bivalve shells and the male proceeds to guard them. Males care for approximately 2 egg batches at the same time, belonging to different females (Kvarnemo, 1994), and females respawn with an interval of about 1 to 2 weeks (Kvarnemo, 1998). Fecundity is reported as between 2,878 - 3,000 eggs by Miller (1986) and between 998 and 5100 by Bouchereau et al. (1990).
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Pomatoschistus minutus spawns at 8 to 15 °C, lower than that of the Pomatoschistus microps (Wiederholm, 1987). In the Atlantic reproduction is protracted (Bouchereau & Guelorget, 1998; Rogers, 1989) and in the Mediterranean it is contracted (Bouchereau & Guelorget, 1998).
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The lifespan of the sand goby is approximately 1.3 to 2 years (Miller, 1986). Quignard et al. (1983) recorded lifespans of the sand goby as 12 to 14 months in the Mediterranean and up to 22 months in the Atlantic.
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