Goby ID

Apollo7235

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Hello all!

Introducing our first fish! Only problem is, it came into the LFS as 'Watchman Goby' with no other info. I spoke with the store owner, who was super kind and helpful, and she told me that her supplier typically sends her any of the 'oddball' fish he comes across and this happened to be one of them. When I saw the fish, I fell in love with it. I just think it looks very unique, but what the heck do I know. I'm a newbie ;) Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any photos of it when it's completely out of its burrow, but on it's back half it has some thick dark stripes.

Anyway, it was already paired with a very beautiful Tiger Pistol that has some bright yellow bands on his legs. Very pretty pair.

Here are some photos and a video of them. Can anybody help me with an ID? I read that some YWG have been seen to turn this white/translucent color when they become sexually mature females, but I am not sure how accurate that is. The LFS owner told me that she has never seen one of a pair of YWG turn white, so I feel like that idea may be a bust......... Both the shrimp and the goby eat very well each time I feed them (twice a day). I use a Sea Squirt to feed them and they actually eat directly out of it. It's very endearing, ahaha.



IMG_0075.JPG IMG_0080.JPG
 
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Apollo7235

Apollo7235

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Id say a Blue Spotted Watchmen Goby
I would agree, but it doesn't have those blue spots on its dorsal fin. LiveAquaria has one that looks close to it calling it a 'spotted watchman', but that's the only place I have been able to find it so I'm not 100% sure I'm buying it...
 

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I would agree, but it doesn't have those blue spots on its dorsal fin. LiveAquaria has one that looks close to it calling it a 'spotted watchman', but that's the only place I have been able to find it so I'm not 100% sure I'm buying it...
The non spotted dorsal could be due to age or gender. Also you said your not sure you will be buying it, I'd suggest only having one goby to pair with the pistol shrimp.
 
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Apollo7235

Apollo7235

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No
The non spotted dorsal could be due to age or gender. Also you said your not sure you will be buying it, I'd suggest only having one goby to pair with the pistol shrimp.
No, no, I already bought this guy with his paired shrimp.

That's really interesting about the dorsal fin; do you happen to know how that goes? As in, females have a spot or don't, or older fish have the spot, etc?
 
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Apollo7235

Apollo7235

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After a few more searches on R2R and Google, I managed to find this article linked in an R2R post which explains what is going on here. This looks to me to be one of the whitish-grayish female Yellow Watchman Gobies referenced in the article. Hopefully I'm correct! I suppose the only way to find out for sure would be to place a small yellow (male) watchman in there with her......

Anyway, thanks for the input! I'll update this thread with the results if I do decide to go this route ;)

 

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Did it ever change yellow for you? I just bought one labeled AC watchman through a local petco. Very small looks just like yours mix of yellow and grey. For 20$ I’ll take the chance of it coloring up
 

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Spotted Watchman Goby

Live aquaria always has them
 

i cant think

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Hello all!

Introducing our first fish! Only problem is, it came into the LFS as 'Watchman Goby' with no other info. I spoke with the store owner, who was super kind and helpful, and she told me that her supplier typically sends her any of the 'oddball' fish he comes across and this happened to be one of them. When I saw the fish, I fell in love with it. I just think it looks very unique, but what the heck do I know. I'm a newbie ;) Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any photos of it when it's completely out of its burrow, but on it's back half it has some thick dark stripes.

Anyway, it was already paired with a very beautiful Tiger Pistol that has some bright yellow bands on his legs. Very pretty pair.

Here are some photos and a video of them. Can anybody help me with an ID? I read that some YWG have been seen to turn this white/translucent color when they become sexually mature females, but I am not sure how accurate that is. The LFS owner told me that she has never seen one of a pair of YWG turn white, so I feel like that idea may be a bust......... Both the shrimp and the goby eat very well each time I feed them (twice a day). I use a Sea Squirt to feed them and they actually eat directly out of it. It's very endearing, ahaha.



IMG_0075.JPG IMG_0080.JPG

Spotted Watchman, it’s a regional variant of the common Cryptocentrus cinctus.
 

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