Gold neon dwarf goby

Stiphodon percnopterygionus

Also known as Gold neon goby, Black-fin stiphodon

FreshwaterFish

Gold neon dwarf goby (Stiphodon percnopterygionus) — Laurent Pasteur · CC BY 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°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: Medium
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Island streams of Japan, Taiwan, and the western Pacific
Family: Oxudercidae

Overview

This is a bright algae-grazing river goby, a peaceful bottom dweller that scrapes biofilm from stone rather than eating flake. Being sociable, it wants a small group over rounded, film-covered cobbles, with males left a little more space to hold grazing patches and light up gold and blue as they display. It needs a mature, well-lit tank so algae and biofilm can grow, plus supplements such as algae wafers and the odd frozen cyclops. It needs steady flow and high oxygen, plus small, calm companions that will not muscle in at feeding time. Give it a 54 liter tank that has run long enough to grow a green film.

In the wild

In the wild it grazes fast, clear island streams in Japan, Taiwan, and the western Pacific, holding to stone in bright, oxygen-rich, current-swept water. To copy that, keep a shallow, stony tank with steady flow, strong light to feed the algae film, and clean water changed regularly. Run it a touch cooler than most tropicals, about 22 to 26 C, and from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, near pH 6.5 to 7.8.

Good to know

Stiphodon percnopterygionus is a member of the family Oxudercidae, and its name points to its dark-edged, dusky fins. It reaches about 4 centimeters, and males switch between electric blue and gold color phases. Like all Stiphodon it is a dedicated algae grazer with spatula-shaped teeth. It is amphidromous, and breeding it in captivity is very hard, since the larvae must develop at sea before the young climb back upstream.

Did you know

Displaying males do not hold one fixed color. They shift between an electric blue phase and a gold to orange phase, so the same fish can look like two different gobies within minutes.