Critter goby

Lentipes crittersius

Also known as Crittersius goby

FreshwaterFish

Critter goby (Lentipes crittersius) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–81°F (23–27°C)
pH: 6.5–7.8
Adult size: 1.6 in (4 cm)
Minimum tank: 14 gal (54 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Biak Island, western New Guinea, Indonesia
Family: Oxudercidae

Overview

This is a small, fast climbing goby for a high-energy stream tank, an active bottom dweller that grazes biofilm and hunts tiny invertebrates. It is a peaceful, sociable goby; keep a small group over cobbles and boulders and leave displaying males a little room so disputes stay to posturing. It works the current close to the floor, so drift small frozen and live foods such as cyclops, baby brine, and finely chopped bloodworm into the flow, and let algae and film grow on the rockwork. Pair it only with calm, current-loving tankmates that will not clear the food first. A 54 liter tank with strong flow and high oxygen suits a group.

In the wild

In the wild it lives in fast, clear, high-gradient streams on Biak Island off the north coast of western New Guinea, in Indonesia's Papua region, clinging to rock in tumbling, oxygen-rich water. Recreate that with strong current, smooth boulders and gravel, bright light to grow the film it grazes, and very clean water. Keep the tank at 23 to 27 C and hold the pH from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, roughly 6.5 to 7.8.

Good to know

Lentipes crittersius is a sicydiine goby in the family Oxudercidae, described by Watson and Allen in 1999 from Irian Jaya in western New Guinea. It matures at around 4 centimeters, and like others in its genus it is amphidromous, with marine larvae and no established aquarium breeding record. The name is a light-hearted one: crittersius turns critters, an informal word for small creatures, into Latin.

Did you know

Its odd species name is a piece of affection, not science. Crittersius borrows critters, the everyday nickname the late goby specialist Raymond Birdsong liked to use for the little fish he studied, and dresses it up in Latin.