Black-ray goby

Last updated

Black-ray goby
Black-ray goby.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gobiiformes
Family: Gobiidae
Genus: Stonogobiops
Species:
S. nematodes
Binomial name
Stonogobiops nematodes

Stonogobiops nematodes, the Filament-finned prawn-goby, the Antenna goby, the high-fin goby, the red-banded goby, the high-fin red-banded goby, the striped goby, the barber-pole goby, or the black-ray Goby, is a species of marine goby native to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean from the Seychelles to the Philippines and Bali. [1]

Contents

Physical features

Adult fish can grow up to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in length, with the striking pointed dorsal fin becoming more raised and pronounced in adulthood. This elongated fin is the most obvious distinguishing feature between the black-ray goby and its close cousin, the yellow snout goby (S. Xanthorhinica). The fish are coloured with four diagonal brown stripes across a white body, and a distinctive yellow head.

It is almost impossible for anybody less than a specialised expert in the specific field of these types of fish to discern differences between males and females of the species.

Natural environment

This goby inhabits sandy or sand-rubble bottoms adjacent to reefs at depths of from 15 to 25 metres (49 to 82 ft). It is one of several species that form commensal relationships with Randall's pistol shrimp ( Alpheus randalli ). [1]

Behaviour in the wild

This species shares a burrow with its shrimp partner. The goby has much better eyesight than the shrimp, and, as such, acts as the watchman for both of them, keeping an eye out for danger. The shrimp spends the day digging a burrow in the sand in which both live. Burrows usually measure up to one inch in diameter, and can reach up to four feet in length. The two animals maintain continuous contact, with the shrimp placing one of its antennae permanently on the goby's tail. When danger threatens, the goby will make continuous flicks of its tail, warning the shrimp there is a predator nearby, and the shrimp will remain safely in the burrow. If the danger reaches a certain level, the goby will dart into the burrow after the shrimp.

At night, the goby will go into the burrow, and the shrimp will collapse the entrance to close it off. The burrow is exited the next day by the goby blasting its way out and collapsing the burrow. The shrimp then spends the next day laboriously rebuilding the entrance to the burrow. Both animals have also been known to share food with each other.

When the goby catches food, it will often give a portion of it to the pistol shrimp, through a somewhat similar process of a mother bird regurgitating food to her chicks. This way, the shrimp and the goby are kept well fed. Sometimes, if the shrimp is not kept well fed, it will resort to killing the goby.

In the wild, most burrows are shared by male and female goby pairs, with their respective shrimp partners, and the female goby will use this burrow as a nesting site to lay her eggs.

The obvious benefits to both organisms of this symbiotic relationship make the interaction a form of mutualism. Here is an interesting example of this. The other fish is a dartfish (genus Ptereleotris ). These fish are often found as unwelcome but ignored guests sharing the burrow with goby and shrimp.

Aquarium keeping

Black-ray goby in commercial trade

This goby is in high demand for home and hobby marine aquaria due to its beautiful colouration, docile nature and interesting interaction with symbiotic shrimp. This type of goby is the most common Stonogobiops species to show up in the marine trade, but is still quite rare.

Behaviour and compatibility

This fish is very docile and poses almost no threat to any other stock inhabiting a typical marine aquarium. This passiveness makes it a perfect tankmate for delicate species like sea horses or pipefish. In fact, it is in reality quite shy, and when first introduced into an aquarium, may take up to several weeks before it is bold enough to leave its hiding place, or bolt hole. While this fish can display aggression towards other tank inhabitants by opening its mouth and "yawning" at them, this is mostly show, and the goby will quickly turn tail and hide if confronted.

The goby will spend most of its time hovering about two inches above its bolt hole, searching for scraps of food in the water column. If scared or startled, it will slowly retreat towards its hole. If the danger does not go away, it will dart inside at lightning speed.

Mated pairs of this fish are very rare and difficult to attain. Individual males may fight if placed in a tank smaller than about 50 gallons (~200 litres).

Tank environment

For successful aquarium culture, this fish needs good sand/coral rubble cover for burrow-building and much rock cover; a reef environment is suitable. The recommended minimum tank size is 10 gallons (40 litres), however these fish mainly hide out in burrows all day, and are not active swimmers, making them candidates for smaller "pico" aquariums. (Aquariums 4 gallons and under.) The water specific gravity should be 1.020 - 1.025, with a pH of 8.1 - 8.4; water temperature at 72 - 78 °F / 22 - 25 °C is ideal, however water temperature up to 80 °F will not harm the fish.

Care and maintenance

Small meaty foods, such as mysid (sometimes referred to as mysis shrimp) or brine shrimp, along with flake food and algae wafers, spirulina, etc. are all happily accepted. In the wild, these gobies most often feed on zooplankton. The water quality must be kept reasonably high, as with all marine species. A substrate of small-grained coral sand, with larger particles mixed in (preferably four inches or deeper) is ideal for the goby/shrimp pair to make their burrow.

Related Research Articles

Gobiidae

Gobiidae is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera, sometimes referred to as the "true gobies". Most of them are relatively small, typically less than 10 cm (3.9 in) in length. The Gobiidae includes some of the smallest vertebrates in the world, such as Trimmatom nanus and Pandaka pygmaea, Trimmatom nanus are under 1 cm long when fully grown, then Pandaka pygmaea standard length are 9mm (0.35 in),maximum known standard length are 11 mm (0.43 in). Some large gobies can reach over 30 cm (0.98 ft) in length, but that is exceptional. Generally, they are benthic, or bottom-dwellers. Although few are important as food for humans, they are of great significance as prey species for commercially important fish such as cod, haddock, sea bass, and flatfish. Several gobiids are also of interest as aquarium fish, such as the dartfish of the genus Ptereleotris. Phylogenetic relationships of gobiids have been studied using molecular data.

Tiger pistol shrimp

The tiger pistol shrimp belongs to the family of snapping shrimp.

Reef aquarium

A reef aquarium or reef tank is a marine aquarium that prominently displays live corals and other marine invertebrates as well as fish that play a role in maintaining the tropical coral reef environment. A reef aquarium requires appropriately intense lighting, turbulent water movement, and more stable water chemistry than fish-only marine aquaria, and careful consideration is given to which reef animals are appropriate and compatible with each other.

Alpheidae Family of crustacean

Alpheidae is a family of caridean snapping shrimp, characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a loud snapping sound. Other common names for animals in the group are pistol shrimp or alpheid shrimp.

Dwarf gourami

The dwarf gourami is a species of gourami native to South Asia.

Royal gramma Species of fish

The royal gramma, also known as the fairy basslet, is a species of fish in the family Grammatidae native to reef environments of the tropical western Atlantic Ocean. They are commonly kept in aquariums.

Dwarf corydoras

The dwarf corydoras, dwarf catfish, tail spot pygmy catfish, or micro catfish is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the subfamily Corydoradinae of the family Callichthyidae. It originates in inland waters in South America, and is found in the Amazon River and Paraguay River basins in Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. The specific epithet hastatus means with a spear, in reference to the spearhead-like spot on the tail root.

Pygmy corydoras

The pygmy corydoras or pygmy catfish is a tropical and freshwater fish belonging to the subfamily Corydoradinae of the family Callichthyidae. It originates in tropical inland waters in South America, and is found in the Madeira River basin in Brazil.

<i>Nemateleotris magnifica</i>

Nemateleotris magnifica, known by a variety of common names including fire goby, magnificent fire fish, fire dartfish, or red fire goby is a species of dartfish native to the Indian and Pacific oceans from the eastern coast of Africa to the Hawaiian Islands and from the Austral Islands north to the Ryukyu Islands. It is an inhabitant of coral reefs where it can be found at depths of from 6 to 70 metres. It is usually found just above the bottom, facing into the current, where it awaits its prey of small invertebrates.

Rainbow shark

The rainbow shark is a species of Southeast Asian freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae. It is also known as the ruby shark, red-fin shark, red-finned shark, rainbow sharkminnow, green fringelip labeo, whitefin shark and whitetail sharkminnow. It is a popular, semi-aggressive aquarium fish. Unlike true sharks, which belong to the Chondrichthyes lineage, the rainbow shark is an actinopterygiian.

Gobiiformes

The Gobiiformes are an order of fish that includes the gobies and their relatives. The order, which was previously considered a suborder of Perciformes, is made up of about 2,211 species that are divided between seven families. Phylogenetic relationships of the Gobiiformes have been elucidated using molecular data. Gobiiforms are primarily small species that live in marine water, but roughly 10% of these species inhabit fresh water. This order is composed chiefly of benthic or burrowing species; like many other benthic fishes, most gobiiforms do not have a gas bladder or any other means of controlling their buoyancy in water, so they must spend most of their time on or near the bottom. Gobiiformes means "Goby-like".

Tank goby

Glossogobius giuris, the tank goby, is a species of goby native to fresh, marine and brackish waters from the Red Sea and East Africa through South Asia and the Indian Ocean to China, Australia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade. It is also known as the bar-eyed goby, flat-headed goby and the Gangetic tank goby.

<i>Pseudanthias bimaculatus</i>

Pseudanthias bimaculatus, two-spot basslet, twospot anthias, twinspot anthias and bimac anthias, is a species of marine ray-finned fish from the subfamily Anthiinae of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. It is an Indo-Pacific species of reefs.

Blackcap basslet

The blackcap basslet, or blackcap gramma, is a species of fish inhabiting reefs in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean. It prefers vertical surfaces with crevices in which it can hide. It can be found at depths of from 10 to 180 metres. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade.

Yellow prawn-goby

The yellow prawn-goby is a species of goby native to the Western Pacific, where it can be found at depths of from 1 to 25 metres in coastal bays and lagoons. This species is symbiotic with alpheid shrimps. The species can reach a length of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) SL. These fish vary greatly in appearance, ranging from brilliant yellow to gray and even brown forms or combinations of each coloring. This species is often kept in salt water aquariums. The Yellow Prawn-Goby can be kept in aquariums as small as 20 gallons. In the marine hobby they are often partnered with Tiger pistol shrimp.

Brachygobius nunus, the Golden banded goby, is a species of bumblebee goby, a small genus of gobies that takes its common name from their round bodies, big heads, and their overall yellow to golden coloration interrupted by four brown to black vertical stripes reminiscent of the striped pattern of a bumblebee. They have also been figuratively described as "buzzing" from one surface to another inside the aquarium. Like other members of its genus, it is popular as an aquarium fish.

Violet goby

The violet goby is a species of goby native to marine, fresh and brackish waters near the Atlantic coast of North and South America from South Carolina in the United States of America, to northern Brazil. It prefers bays, estuaries and river mouths with muddy substrates. It is often marketed as the dragon goby or dragon fish.

<i>Stigmatogobius sadanundio</i>

Stigmatogobius sadanundio is a species of goby native to south Asia from India to Indonesia including Sri Lanka and the Andaman Islands. It can be found in mostly fresh waters of estuaries and the tidal zones of rivers. It can also be found in the aquarium trade, where it is often marketed as the knight goby.

Gobiinae

True gobies were a subfamily, the Gobiinae, of the goby family Gobiidae, although the 5th edition of the Fishes of the World does not subdivide the Gobiidae into subfamilies. They are found in all oceans and a few rivers and lakes, but most live in warm waters. Altogether, the Gobiinae unite about 1149 described species in 160 genera, and new ones are still being discovered in numbers.

References

  1. 1 2 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). "Stonogobiops nematodes" in FishBase . June 2013 version.
General information
Shrimp-goby interaction