Yellow watchman goby no longer yellow

[RunBikeSwim]

My YWG is no longer yellow. Its color is more white/grey with blue spots. No hint of yellow for the past month or so.

Normal? Or something else?

 

[ReefQueen]

Like this?

I have never had a ywg. But I was under the impression that they changed color as they matured.

 

[Jason mack]

+1 for changing colour as they mature

 

[Murica]

When I picked up mine it was white and as time went on it turned yellow. Usual case it means it's turning female, sometimes stress can cause it too.

Some also say it has nothing to do with the sex but it's just normal for them to do that when they mature

Here's mine

 

[RunBikeSwim]

Thanks all for the replies. Glad to hear nothing is wrong. Wished the vibrant yellow color stayed because the white/gray color is quite dull.

 

[rockhead51]

Mine lost color when. He found his way I to my sump for 2 months, but recovered some yellow VERY fast when I rescued him and gave him some food. I had another one already (thought he had died), so I took him back to my LFS. Saw him there a week or two ago, he was back to bright yellow.

 

[Baldguy]

I've had my YWG for more than 6 years. Yellow when I got him and yellow now. Probably doubled in size.

 

[Eva Rose]

I've also read that the yellow is male, the gray female. I don't know if this is correct. But I had one go through a color change.
I had a bonded pair where one was gray & the other yellow. They were very tiny juveniles. The yellow was always going for a swim in the filter sox. Then one day I could not find him. The gray one stayed gray for about a year after that. Then gradually my gray changed to a soft yellow, and finally a bright yellow.
So if the color change is gender related, mine became a male.

 

[Aborin1]

I’m seeing posts about them turning color when they mature but mine was only about 1.5 inches long when I got it and it turned grey within a month. Definitely not near maturity.

 

[OrionN]

Yellow is the color of the male and grey is female. There is an write up of someone who breed this species of fish. I will look it up and attach to this thread later

Here it is:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/ft/index.php

 

[mandarin417]

I have had a pair for about 3 years now. Just recently one turned gray with stripes and the other remained yellow. Now I know why.

 

[Sump Crab]

Mine turned gray in year 8 or 9.

 

[link81]

mines grey s well, turned a month or so after i got her. Thinking of getting a small yellow and see if they pair up.

 

[mandarin417]

Mine turned gray in year 8 or 9.

I was not sure mine would last this long. When I first put them in the tank, they were much smaller and kept residing in the overflow and I had to let them drain to the sump to get them out.

 

[mandarin417]

I know one thing - if you want your sand and gravel to really get a stir - get a pair of diamond gobies. They nest about every 4 weeks and try and pile everything in the tank over their egg cave! Fun to have if you don't have low lying corals.

 

[Katrina71]

My son's girl is grey as well. She's a beauty. Her name is Goblin and her tiger pistol is Kandy Korn. They were gotten right before Halloween a few years ago.

 

[Barb0713]

Like this?

I have never had a ywg. But I was under the impression that they changed color as they matured.

Mine looks the same. Otherwise healthy acting normal.

 

[OrionN]

Sometime they are yellow and other time they are black and white. It does not mean one sex is yellow the other is not. They just have two color phases and one goby can be either of these two color phases.

 

[Barb0713]

Sometime they are yellow and other time they are black and white. It does not mean one sex is yellow the other is not. They just have two color phases and one goby can be either of these two color phases.

Thanks. Mine is yellow because he was yellow when I got him and he still has yellow tints on the tips of his fins and around his eyes. I think he will turn yellow again. But, it’s been a couple weeks. He has already picked a favorite cave hole and he has dug a sand pit right outside of it. He posts up on a hairy mushroom on the rock right above. Seems very comfortable? So , I guess I’ll wait and see lol

 

[Zodiac]

I've had some remain yellow but the one I currently have is the first that turned grey with black bars...