Citron Clown Goby

Care at a glance

Overview

Citron clown gobies are peaceful toward other fish and make an easy, undemanding community member, though two unrelated individuals housed together will often fight until one asserts dominance or they pair off. Reef safety is rated caution: they present little to no risk in LPS or soft coral tanks, but are known to nip at the flesh and polyps of their host Acropora, which will not kill a large healthy colony but can seriously set back a small frag. Giving them a few coral heads or one large colony to work over helps keep any nipping spread out and minor. Feed small meaty foods like mysis shrimp, enriched brine, and frozen carnivore preparations close to their perch, since they do not forage widely.

In the wild

Native to Indo-West Pacific reefs from the Red Sea and Mozambique east to Samoa, and from southern Japan south to the Great Barrier Reef, usually in depths of 2 to 20 meters. Like other clown gobies it lives its adult life perched on a single coral colony, typically the branches of Acropora or similar stony corals, and rarely swims far from that spot. It needs a mature reef aquarium with a coral head or sturdy branching rock to call home rather than open water or sand.

Good to know

A member of the family Gobiidae, growing to around 6.5 cm, bright lemon yellow overall with a pair of thin blue lines running from the snout through the eye. Like its relatives it lacks a swim bladder and rests propped on fused pelvic fins. Its common name poison goby comes from the same bitter, toxic skin mucus that protects most Gobiodon species from predators. It is a protogynous hermaphrodite, and a paired fish can switch sex if its partner is lost.

Did you know

The bright yellow color and toxic mucus coating work well enough as a deterrent that citron clown gobies will often sit fully exposed on top of a coral head in broad daylight, a spot that would be a death sentence for most fish this size.

Related species

• 

  Green Clown Goby

  Gobiodon histrio

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)11 gal (40 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Yellow Clown Goby

  Gobiodon okinawae

  1.6 in (4 cm)11 gal (40 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Catalina Goby

  Lythrypnus dalli

  2.4 in (6 cm)11 gal (40 L)59–72°F (15–22°C)

• 

  Hi-Fin Red Banded Goby

  Stonogobiops nematodes

  2.4 in (6 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)

• 

  Yasha Goby

  Stonogobiops yasha

  2.4 in (6 cm)15 gal (57 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Hector's Goby

  Koumansetta hectori

  3.1 in (8 cm)20 gal (75 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)