Girdle Gobies?

Brit’s Fish · Nov 28, 2020

Hi Reefers!
I purchased this lovely mated pair of gobies yesterday on a deal from my LFS. Silly me, they were not labeled and the owner, who sold them to me, likes to use their scientific names (which is cool!). The issue is that now I can’t remember and I’m not 100% sure of what they are.
They had been there for at least 6 months and I have looked at them many times. They eat well but hide a lot. They have been breeding at the LFS and the female looks to be pregnant now, although I have no major aspirations of breeding them. I’m happy to take care of surviving fry though!
Can anyone positively ID these guys?
Thanks for the help!

Tumey · Nov 28, 2020

Google images for Priolepis ascensionis. I’m no fish expert but this is my best guess to help you figure out exactly what species you have. They’re definitely priolepis but there are 35 species in this genus. I’m guessing they were sold to you as Ascension Gobies

Brit’s Fish · Nov 28, 2020

You are definitely right! Thank you so much!
I didn’t realize there were that many different Priolepsis gobies. And I remembered later today that was all he called them. I kept seeing only a couple kinds pop up in my searches & none quite fit.

Tumey · Nov 28, 2020

Those are neat looking fish. Don’t know any husbandry tips for keeping them but the time I spent online trying to help you figure out what they were it seems they might spend a lot of time tucked away in the rocks. Congratulations on your new additions!

Brit’s Fish · Nov 28, 2020

Yeah, they were living in a 20-cube system along with their selection of inverts, so they were really visible there. However, I have them in a 20 gallon cube now and have seen them come out to eat, but that’s it. I honestly don’t mind it... I think they’re really cool but also felt bad for them in that cube at the LFS. They didn’t even have a rock.

Now they have a ton of caves to choose from! I’ll try to get a picture of them when they come out for food.
I’ll have to do some more searching around on them too. They don’t seem to be super common. Maybe I’ll post a new thread on here with the correct name, now that you found it!