Neon Goby – Gobiosoma oceanops
Species name: Gobiosoma oceanops also call Elacatinus oceanops
Common names: Neon Goby
Family: Gobiidae (Gobies)
Subfamily: Gobiinae
Order: Perciformes (perch-likes)
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length: 2.5 in.
Minimum tank size: 20 gallons
Hardiness:
Aggressiveness: Peaceful with other fish except to their own kind. Each will stake out their own territory if more than one is kept in a tank. They have a life span of about one to two years.
Reef Compatibility: Excellent
Diet: Carnivore. Its diet should include various meaty food such as live brine shrimp, mysis, finely chopped fish or shrimp flesh and other various frozen carnivore foods. It should be fed at least once per day. Its mouths is fairly small, so only small foods will do. Will also get some of its nutritional requirements from cleaning other fish but this won’t be enough in a close system.
Additional information:
Easily recognized by the iridescent blue strips along the top half of its black body, the Neon Goby is found in the tropical Western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico among coral reefs and tropical rocky substrates at depth of 3 – 150 feet, sometime singly, in pairs or in groups of 30 or more. Males are often larger and more slender. Females will possess a swollen abdomen, particularly when ripe with eggs.
This cute little fish is extremely hardy and of great utility. It is a cleaner fish that will setup a cleaning station and pick off parasites and dead tissue from larger fishes. It usually rests on coral waiting for a fish to clean and withdraws into crevices when threatened.
The ideal aquarium will have a specific gravity of 1.020 to 1.025, a pH of 8.1 to 8.4 and Temperature between 72 and 78° F. Neon Goby prefers a tank with plenty of places to hide & swim.
Looking for a marine species to try captive breeding? Look no further. Neon Gobies will pair up and breed in any well-maintained aquariums. Actually it has been tank-bred in commercial quantities for years.
Males clean the undersides of rocks, corals, or shells to prepare the surface for eggs. Spawning occurs with the male and female quivering side-by-side, depositing the eggs on the ceiling of the nest. Spawning can occur as often as every fourteen days with plenty of feeding and warm water conditions. About 300–450 eggs will hatch after 7 to 10 days. Parents will take care of the eggs but not the fry.
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They are great fish. Mine does occassionally quarrel with my shrimp goby because they both like the same home. He cleans any fish that goes up to it when he feals like it, my tang loves him. Sad that they live so short…i’ve had mine almost a year. Hope i have him for another!!!