Peacock gudgeon

Tateurndina ocellicauda

Also known as Peacock goby

FreshwaterFish

Peacock gudgeon (Tateurndina ocellicauda) — Dirk Godlinski · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 3 in (7.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Very rare
Origin: New Guinea
Family: Eleotridae

Overview

The peacock gudgeon is a small, gentle, colorful fish that does well in a group of five or more, where males stake out little cave territories and display to each other without real harm. It hovers in the middle of a planted tank rather than hugging the floor, and its calm nature makes it a good match for other peaceful nano fish and for dwarf shrimp too large to be eaten. It prefers small foods and can be shy of dry flake, so offer frozen and live bloodworms, daphnia, and brine shrimp, with fine micro pellets as a supplement. Give it soft, gently flowing water, plenty of plants, and small caves or pipes. A tank of 75 liters or larger comfortably holds a group.

In the wild

The peacock gudgeon comes from eastern Papua New Guinea, where it lives in slow, shady rainforest streams, pools, and creeks with soft, slightly acidic water. Aim for warm, calm conditions around 22 to 26 °C and a pH from about 6 to 7.5, with gentle filtration rather than strong current. Dense planting, driftwood, leaf litter, and shaded spots recreate the cover it uses in the wild and help it feel secure enough to show its colors. Clean, stable water and small regular water changes keep this fish at its best.

Good to know

The peacock gudgeon is a member of Eleotridae, the sleeper gobies, and reaches about 7.5 cm, with males growing larger than females and developing a raised nuchal hump on the forehead. As a sleeper, its pelvic fins are separate rather than joined into the sucker of true gobies. It is a cave spawner: the female attaches fifty to a hundred eggs to the roof of a cave, the male drives her out, and he then fans and guards the clutch until it hatches. Breeding is possible but counts as demanding, since the newly hatched fry are tiny and need very small live foods to get started.

Did you know

The species name ocellicauda means eye-tailed, after the dark, eye-like spot near the base of the tail, a false eye that may help draw a predator's attention away from the real head.