Five-lined Coral Goby

Geographical Origin and Habitat: Indo-Pacific: Philippines to the Society Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Australia and Tonga. Lives commensally among branching Acropora corals. Endemic to the tropical Indo-Pacific, this goby lives in close association with Acropora corals in shallow lagoons.

Taxonomy and Morphology: Member of the family Gobiidae. Reaches a maximum size of 4.5 cm. Features a compressed, scale-less body with a toxic mucus layer. As a scaleless goby, its skin is covered in a thick, bitter mucus layer that deters predators and prevents skin infections.

Social Behavior: Coral-commensal species. Lives in monogamous pairs or small groups within the branches of branching corals for protection. It exhibits a highly sedentary lifestyle, rarely leaving the protective branches of its host coral colony.

Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: Body is dark reddish-brown to grayish, featuring five prominent vertical blue-white lines on the head. Bi-directional hermaphrodite. The body color ranges from dark reddish-brown to green, with five glowing vertical blue lines visible on the head and cheeks.

Aquarium Setup: Minimum 60 liters. Must be provided with branching Acropora stony corals to live and hide in, simulating its natural reef habitat. Best suited for nano reef aquariums containing branching stony corals which serve as the fish's natural habitat and shelter.

Diet and Feeding: Carnivore. Offer small, meaty foods such as cyclops, copepods, rotifers, and finely minced frozen mysis twice daily. Feed a variety of small, meaty foods such as cyclops, oyster eggs, and baby brine shrimp, distributed directly into the coral branches.

Water Quality: Maintain stable marine parameters: temperature 24-28°C, pH 8.1-8.4, salinity 1.020-1.025 SG. Good filtration is necessary. Maintain pristine water conditions with low nutrient levels, similar to the requirements for keeping delicate SPS corals.

Compatibility and Cohabitation: Peaceful towards other fish. May argue with other clown gobies for breeding space. Completely safe with invertebrates. Generally peaceful with non-related species, but territorial disputes will occur if multiple coral gobies share a single host coral.

Aquarium Breeding: Lays adhesive eggs on the branches of corals, clearing a small patch of tissue. The male guards the nest. Rearing larvae is difficult. Spawning is common in mature tanks, but raising the microscopic larvae requires specialized live foods and rotifer cultures.

Risks and Diseases: Small size makes it vulnerable to being sucked into open filter intakes. Coral polyp nipping occurs during nesting but rarely kills the coral. Avoid introducing to tanks with large, aggressive fish that might ignore the toxic mucus and swallow the goby.