This estuarine and freshwater species has a restricted range in southwest Western Australia. The estimated area of occupancy (AOO) is inferred to be less than 2,000 km² and greater than 500 km². Declines in this species, which has a narrow salinity regime tolerance, have been observed in recent decades due to increasing salinity caused by hydrological alteration and abnormally low rainfall that has reduced streamflow throughout southwest Western Australia, a consequence of global climate change. Invasive cichlids in the Canning Estuary likely also impacts this species. The number of locations is greater than 10 and less than 20 and it is listed as Near Threatened B2ab(iii). 

This species is endemic to southwest Western Australia from the Moore River southeast to the Denmark River and Torbay Inlet, Albany (Gomon and Bray 2021, Krispyn 2021, D. Hoese pers. comm. 2024). The depth range is 0.3-8 m (D. Hoese and H. Larson pers. comm. 2024).

Based on a minimum convex polygon drawn around the extent of its range, the estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) is 55,080 km². Based on the area of a 0.5 km buffer of the shoreline within its range, which is 530 km², the estimated area of occupancy (AOO) is inferred to be less than 2,000 km² and greater than 500 km². The number of locations is greater than 10 and less than 20.

This species may only be locally common (D. Hoese and H.K. Larson pers. comm. 2024). The population is not severely fragmented. It was reported to have experienced localized population declines in the Middle Swan and Lower Canning estuary between the 1970s and 2000s, likely as a result of an ongoing increase in salinity (Hogan-West et al. 2019). Across the four zones of the Swan Canning Estuary, the Lower Swan Canning and Middle Swan estuaries had the lowest average density per 100 m², with values of 0 and 0.65 individuals, respectively (Tweedley et al. 2022a). Within the Canning and Upper Swan estuaries, this species sustained an average density per 100 m² of 3.45 and 3.81 individuals, respectively (Tweedley et al. 2022a). In the Peel-Harvey Estuary, 321 individuals were collected between summer of 2020 and autumn of 2021 (Tweedley et al. 2022b). In Torbay Inlet, Western Australia, this species had a mean density of 6.36 individuals per 100 m² (Krispyn 2021). However, it was completely absent from the other seven survey localities across the Albany region of Western Australia (Krispyn 2021). 

This species inhabits dense aquatic vegetation in upper estuary areas with low salinity, coastal lakes, and freshwater streams over mud and silt bottoms (Hogan-West et al. 2019, Gomon and Bray 2021). It is carnivorous, feeding primarily on crustaceans, worms, small fish, insects, and molluscs (Gomon and Bray 2021). It is an oviparous benthic spawner, with females depositing the adhesive eggs to hard surfaces, and both parents exhibiting guarding behaviour towards unhatched eggs (Gomon and Bray 2021). It is suspected to spawn between late spring and early summer, near the end of its first year of life (D. Hoese and H.K. Larson pers. comm. 2024). The maximum standard length is 11 cm (Gomon and Bray 2021).

This restricted-range species is threatened by global climate change and sea level rise across its distribution. Since the 1970s, rainfall in southwestern Australia has declined more than in any other Australian region, leading to a reduction in freshwater streamflow of over 50% (Cottingham et al. 2023). This diminished freshwater influx has led to the increasing salinity of estuaries permanently open to the sea (Cottingham et al. 2023). 

In the Swan Canning Estuary, this has resulted in the observed decline of this species, and its forced distribution shift inland towards the upper Swan River (Cottingham et al. 2023). The nearby Peel-Harvey Estuary and the connected Serpentine and Murray Rivers are also expected to experience hypersaline conditions in the future as a result of decreased freshwater flow and the 1994 construction of the artificial channel, the "Dawesville Cut" (Huang et al. 2020). As global sea levels continue to rise, estuaries are anticipated to experience increased saline intrusion, with the impact of these intrusions increasing as adjacent streamflow decreases (Costa et al. 2023). 

This species co-occurs with the invasive cichlid Geophagus brasiliensis in the Canning Estuary and this may have impacts on its population through changing benthos, competition, and predation (Tweedley et al. 2022). Cichlids frequently consume gobies (H. Larson pers. comm. 2024).

This species is not utilized.

There are no species-specific conservation measures. This species occurs in the Swan River MPA in Western Australia (World Database on Protected Areas accessed November 2023).

Research is need to monitor this species and impacts from threats.