The eating habits of gobies are very diverse. The eggs of smaller fish, shrimp, worms and other fish are the food of gobies, mainly feeding on crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs, small fish and larvae of meretrix meretrix. Some feed on benthic diatoms, and the species living in fresh water also eat aquatic insects and worms, with early sexual maturity. Generally, carnivorous species mature in one year and herbivorous species mature in two years.

The goby is the shortest life-span vertebrate in the world, generally living for 2-3 years, up to 4 years. A goby on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia can live for 59 days.

Goby basically lives in shallow sea environment, mainly in coastal intertidal zone, shallow sea area with sediments or rocks as the substrate, coral reefs and seaweed pastures, and also in seawater and estuarine habitats, including the lower reaches of rivers, mangrove wetlands and salt marshes;

A few live in rapids or make holes in mud holes, and a few species can fully adapt to the fresh water environment.