Pink-Spotted Watchman Goby

Cryptocentrus leptocephalus

Also known as Pink-Spotted Shrimp Goby, Singapore Shrimp Goby, Pink-Spotted Prawn Goby

SaltwaterFish

Pink-Spotted Watchman Goby (Cryptocentrus leptocephalus) — coenobita · CC BY 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–81°F (23–27°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 3.9 in (10 cm)
Minimum tank: 30 gal (115 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Common
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Native to the western Pacific from Indonesia and the Philippines to southern Japan, on silty sand bottoms near reefs.
Family: Gobiidae

Overview

Provide a 115 litre or larger tank with a deep, soft sand bed and a lid, kept at 23 to 27 C and pH 8.1 to 8.4. It is reef safe, though a large adult may eye very small ornamental shrimp. Feed small meaty foods such as mysis, enriched brine, and chopped seafood. It is peaceful with other fish but territorial toward its own kind, and it pairs beautifully with a tiger pistol shrimp.

In the wild

The pink-spotted watchman goby is a grey fish dusted with blue and pink spots that lives on silty sand near reefs. It shares a burrow with a pistol shrimp in one of the reef's best known partnerships. The nearly blind shrimp digs and maintains the burrow while the sharp eyed goby stands guard at the entrance. It needs a sand bed it can burrow into and rocks to shelter under.

Good to know

Cryptocentrus leptocephalus is a shrimp goby in the family Gobiidae. Its partnership with a pistol shrimp is a classic example of mutualism, where each animal gives the other something it lacks. The shrimp keeps a claw or antenna on the goby and reads its tail flicks as danger signals.