Orange Spotted Goby

Facts about the Orange Spotted Goby Fish, it is a shrimp eating goby that burrows into the sand. It is named for the bright orange spots on its body.

All in a Name

The scientific name of the Orange Spotted Goby is Amblyeleotris guttata. It is also called the spotted prawn goby, orange spotted shrimp goby, orange spotted shrimp goby or simply orange spot.

Physical Description

The Orange Spotted Goby has a maximum size of three and a half inches or nine centimeters. The Orange Spotted Goby has white bodies with orange spots, hence the names referring to the orange spots. Each spot has a brown outline, accentuating the spots. The spots are not just along the body but the translucent back fins and tail fins as well. This pattern helps the fish blend in on a rock strewn sandy bottom. The bottom of the throat and lower front fins tend to be dark black.
The Orange Spotted Goby fish are very hardy and easy to take care of.

Behavior

The Orange Spotted Goby burrows itself in the floor of the ocean or your tank, watching for shrimp that it catches and eats. Provide a deep layer of sand and rubble in which they can burrow or hide. Some of them will sift sand, some will clean the tank and others will simply pair up with burrowing shrimps.
This Orange Spotted Goby fish will eat flake food and sinking pellets. The Orange Spotted Goby will eat chopped up sea food like table shrimp. Give these fish enriched brine shrimp, krill, squid, clam, mussels, live black worms, and mysid shrimp. They need to be fed two or three times a day.
The Orange Spotted Goby is not aggressive except toward other members of its own species and other bottom dwellers. You can reduce the aggression by adding the gobies you want to live together to the tank at the same time, as long as there is enough space for each to have its own territory. Do not put tangs like the orange spotted goby in a tank with trigger fish or large predators. Aside from those exceptions, they get along with other small species of fish.
The species can jump, so your aquarium needs to be covered. If you have two in the same aquarium, they may breed without special accommodation.
The Orange Spotted Goby fish issues a loud snap when it wants to deter predators or warn the nearly blind symbiotic shrimp they pair with of threats.

Habitat

The Orange Spotted Goby fish thrive in water from 72 to 78F or 22 to 26C. Their ideal conditioners are a standard sea water mix with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4.
The Orange Spotted Goby fish thrive in a fish only tank. They need at least 30 gallons or 120 liters. The Orange Spotted Goby enjoy being in a tank with Alphaeus species of shrimps, but this is not necessary for their survival or even reproduction. If you have Alphaeus species of shrimps paired off with Orange spotted shrimp gobies, they don’t need extra space. Many aquarium owners add the shrimp to increase the entertainment value of the creatures through their interaction.
The Orange Spotted Goby species is reef safe and coral safe, but it may eat ornamental shrimp.


Range

The Orange Spotted Goby species is found in the western Pacific Ocean and in the eastern Indian Ocean.

Trivia

The Orange Spotted Goby species is not the same as the orange spotted sleeper goy, species name Valenciennea puellaris, though both are sometimes called orange spotted gobies. Orange spotted sleeper gobies do not have the black patches under the forward fins. There are over two thousand species of goby, and a number of them have similar appearances.