Gobies were obtained monthly from the bycatch of a commercial shrimp trawler operating in the shallow waters (less than 20m depth) of the Westdiep area, Southern Bight of the North Sea, from May through December 1984. Pomatoschistus lozanoi juveniles appear later than P. minutus juveniles, indicating a temporal segregation of reproduction. Yearly average density of P. minutus is about twice that of P. lozanoi . Food consumption by the two species amounts to 1-2 g AFDW/m 2 /year. Stomach analysis of several hundred gobies shows that P. minutus is a food generalist that obtains most of its food from the benthos and epibenthos. P. lozanoi is a more specialised feeder, strongly dependant on the hyperbenthos, on Mysidacea in particular. The absence of a food niche shift in P. lozanoi when no P. minutus are present suggests that present-day competition is unimportant in shaping the food niche segregation observed.