Caesiura Pygmygoby

Trimma caesiura

Also known as Rare White Spotted Nano Goby, White Spotted Dwarf Goby, White Spotted Goby

SaltwaterFish

Caesiura Pygmygoby (Trimma caesiura) — (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 1.4 in (3.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 10 gal (38 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Western Pacific (Palau to Samoa)
Family: Gobiidae

Overview

Give each fish its own shelter and it stays peaceful, though it is more of a territory-holder than the sociable Eviota species, so keep one per small tank or spread several across a larger one. It takes small pellets, chopped mysis, Calanus, and baby brine shrimp. Corals and even tiny ornamental shrimp are safe with it.

In the wild

It lives in clear lagoons and on seaward reefs across the western Pacific, tucked into crevices and small caves in dead coral rock and sandy rubble, with records down to 70 meters. It is usually found alone, holding a small territory around a chosen hole. In a tank it adopts a cave or the underside of a shelf rock and patrols a modest patch around it.

Good to know

David Starr Jordan and Alvin Seale described it in 1906 from Apia, Samoa, and made it the type species of their new genus, so every Trimma is defined with reference to this fish. The body is red-orange with a row of white saddle-like spots along the back. Research on the genus has shown that several pygmygobies can change sex in either direction as the makeup of a group shifts.

Did you know

Biota lists its captive-bred line as Trimma cf. caesiura, the cf. meaning compare with, an honest flag from the breeder that the fish may prove to be a close relative still waiting on a firm identification.