TankBud

Yellow watchman goby

Cryptocentrus cinctus

Also known as Yellow Prawn Goby, Yellow Shrimp Goby, Banded Prawn Goby

SaltwaterFish

Yellow watchman goby (Cryptocentrus cinctus)
User:Haplochromis · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
72–81°F
22–27°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
3.5 in
9 cm
Minimum tank
20 gal
75 L
Temperament
Mostly peaceful
Social behavior
Solitary
Own kind
One male per tank
Swim level
Bottom
Difficulty
Beginner
Breeding
Hard
Rarity
Common
Reef safe
Reef safe
Family
Gobiidae
Origin
Indo-Pacific (Red Sea and East Africa to the western Pacific)

Overview

The yellow watchman goby is a hardy shrimp goby that guards its burrow on the sand bed of a reef tank. It is a good first saltwater fish.

Did you know

When a yellow watchman goby is paired with a pistol shrimp, the shrimp keeps one antenna touching the goby at all times. When the goby twitches its tail, the shrimp instantly knows to retreat into the burrow.

Caring for the yellow watchman goby

Give a yellow watchman goby a tank of 20 gal (75 L) or more with a soft sand bed deep enough to tunnel into. Add some rock or rubble to shore up the burrow entrance. A shallow, open sand area lets it perch at the mouth of its burrow and keep watch. It is a determined jumper, so a tight-fitting lid is important.

Keep the water at 72 to 81°F (22 to 27°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. Feed meaty foods such as mysis and enriched brine shrimp, along with some prepared marine fare.

The yellow watchman goby is reef safe and will not harm corals or clams. Its digging even helps keep the sand bed turned over. It is peaceful toward unrelated tank mates but territorial with other shrimp gobies and its own kind.

Keep just one unless you have a large tank and a bonded pair. Breeding it is hard.

Good to know

The yellow watchman goby's common name comes from its well-known partnership with pistol (snapping) shrimp of the genus Alpheus. The near-blind shrimp does the digging and maintains the shared burrow, while the sharp-eyed goby stands guard at the entrance. Color varies from bright yellow to a gray form with blue speckling, sometimes within the same population.

In the wild

Yellow watchman gobies range across the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa to the western Pacific. They live on sandy and rubble-strewn patches next to reefs, where they dig and defend a burrow in the substrate.

Symbiotic relationships

Shrimp gobies and pistol shrimp

A pistol shrimp can barely see, but it digs and maintains a burrow all day. The goby that shares it has sharp eyes and does no digging. It sits at the entrance as a lookout, and the shrimp keeps one antenna resting on the goby's body whenever it is outside. A flick of the goby's tail sends the shrimp back down the hole, and a harder threat sends them both. At dusk they retire together and the shrimp seals the entrance for the night. The shrimp gets an early warning system, and the goby gets a home it could not build.

This partnership is easy to keep and it rewards watching. Give them a sand bed at least 2 inches (5 cm) deep with some rubble to hold the tunnel, add the two together or the shrimp first, and feed sinking food near the burrow mouth. The snap of the shrimp's claw is a small cavitation bubble collapsing, and you will hear it across the room. Pairs form readily between strangers, but the genera matter: the yellow watchman, pink-spotted, Wheeler's, orange-spot and Randall's gobies take a tiger pistol shrimp, while the yasha, hi-fin red banded and pinkbar gobies pair with Randall's pistol shrimp.

Every symbiotic relationship in the catalog

Weekly picks

Tank mates

The yellow watchman goby is a mostly peaceful, solitary species that keeps to the bottom. Keep only one male per tank. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

What size tank does a yellow watchman goby need?

A yellow watchman goby needs at least 20 gal (75 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.

What temperature and pH does a yellow watchman goby need?

A yellow watchman goby is comfortable at 72–81°F (22–27°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

What does a yellow watchman goby eat?

A yellow watchman goby eats meaty foods such as mysis and enriched brine shrimp. Give it some prepared marine fare as well.

How big does a yellow watchman goby get?

An adult yellow watchman goby reaches about 3.5 in (9 cm).

Related species