I.d Please

[kniesh]

Hi guys, this is gonna take some explaining. I seen this fish and asked what it was and they told me a Goby of some sort. It is about 3.5-4" and has the same coloured body as a marbled Raphael but has the same kind of mouth as a Frogmouth Catfish. It also has a large very rounded tail almost like a full circle. It has no bels on its head at all and has what looks like 2 dorsal fins almost right next to each other. I was told by the shop keeper it would grow to about 8", but as he didn't know what it was I took no notice. It also has 2 fins on its underneath which it kind of walks on, but not walking obviously. It is a light baige colour mixed in with dark brown markings, almost like camouflage. Sorry for the Vaignace but my damn camera is broken.

Anyway, I know you shouldn't buy fish you don't know but I had a spare 20gal he is in on his own for now and I am currently cycling my 90gal which he can live in as long as he doesn't turn out to be a monster, which by the I have made previsions for. One of my LFS is good at taking problem fish like that and finding them people with extremely large tanks so I can take it there.

I am still looking on the net for it myself but I'm struggling so if it sounds familiar to anyone could they please help.

I bought it more for the poor platies sake they had him homed with, one already had have his bodie torn off. Anyway thx in advance for any help.

 

[The-Wolf]

the best I can do is this
http/filaman.uni-kiel.de/ComNames/CommonNameSearchList.php

have fun trawling through the hundreds of different gobies

 

[kniesh]

lol, thanks, I thought it was more a catfish than goby tbh. Just one without barbels (think thats the right word), oh and a big mouth.

Actually it is more like a Bumblebee Cat, just wth a marbled Raphael colouring.

 

[The-Wolf]

I think we are really going to need a pic to give a difinative answer

 

[fishfishfish]

it does sound like a goby.i cant think of any cats like that.a pic would help

 

[kniesh]

Ok I just got a pic, not great, I will post it now

They aren't great an I'm sorry about the tank just temporary thing (20gal) while my 90 gal cycles (started a few days ago). Pretty certain now it is predatory whatever it is.

 

[fishfishfish]

no picture

 

[kniesh]

PIcs are there now. Thx.

 

[fishfishfish]

marble goby.its definatly not a catfish

 

[kniesh]

It's definately a marbled goby, thx for ur help, do you know which forum i should be in for info on this now, oddballs?

 

[fishfishfish]

yeah more than likely

 

[nmonks]

The marbled sleeper goby Oxyeleotris marmorata is certainly a very plausible candidate. But there are other similar species, and in fact many members of the sleeper goby familiy look fairly similar.

http/filaman.ifm-geomar.de/identificatio...4&areacode=

As you probably realise, marbled sleepers are pretty big fish (expect over 30 cm in the aquarium). They are primarily freshwater fish (though sometimes found in brackish) and eat fishes, hunting by night, if I recall correctly. Like most sleepers, it is territorial and potentially aggressive towards similar fish, like other large sleepers, but will basically ignore other things too large to be eaten. Apparently an excellent food fish.

http/filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/Speci...ary.php?id=5376

Cheers, Neale

 

[kniesh]

Thx, it is the marbled or eleotris fusca which is on ur link. The y are very difficult to tell apart. It will prob grow to 20-25cm so I'm worried about my cichlids becoming food now. Not sure thoughj.

 

[nmonks]

E. fusca was my first impression, too, but I think O. marmorata is closer in terms of colour pattern. But the snout doesn't look pointy enough. Bear in mind, that many goby species are defined by things like scale counts and fin ray counts, and identifying live specimens is essentially impossible. Bumblebee gobies, despite often being called things like Brachygobius nunus, are in fact very difficult to identify with 100% confidence (or so my goby taxonomist friend tells me!).

There is an excellent goby group at Yahoo if you care to join. Besides aquarists, there are collectors, retailers, and scientists there, too. They often help people identify gobies.

http/tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/gobygroup/

Cheers, Neale

Thx, it is the marbled or eleotris fusca which is on ur link. The y are very difficult to tell apart. It will prob grow to 20-25cm so I'm worried about my cichlids becoming food now. Not sure thoughj.

 

[kniesh]

Thx, just joined up see if I can get the scientific name, thx for ur help.