Pandaka Pygmaea

[OohFeeshy]

I was browsing the stocklist of a shop *nearish* me and saw 'Pandaka pygmaea'. Intrigued by the dwarf AND pygmy in the name, I googled it, but nothing was there. Assuming they actually do ahve these in stock and I actually can get there, what info can you give me?

EDIT- Hmm, it seems to be on the IUCN Red List And apparently absolutely tiny... Bless

 

[pica_nuttalli]

considering the trouble one can have just feeding bumblebee gobies, i'd be afraid to try keeping anything smaller!

very cute 'though

 

[OohFeeshy]

I agree I've emailed them, we shall wait and see... They'd probably take things like bbs I'd imagine, just like permanently keeping fry

 

[nmonks]

It's one of the smallest fish known. There are a few that are a bit smaller, but not many. If I recall correctly, it's a brackish water goby from the Philippines or somewhere like that. It is in Baesnch 1 or 2, so if you have those to hand, check it out. Don't have them handy right now.

Never heard of anyone keeping them, but these "micro gobies" tend not to be especially delicate but they are certainly short lived and need live foods. You'd probably need to keep them swimming in their food, literally, perhaps using brine shrimp.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[OohFeeshy]

Thanks for the info From what I've read they're FW, but they are from the Philippines. How short lived are we talking about? I don't want to spend a fortune on a fish that only lives a few days

 

[nmonks]

OK, to summarise Baensch vol. 2, p 1094: Males to 9 mm, females to 15 mm. Needs a tank with fine sand at the bottom, lots of hiding places. In the wild, live in brackish, so add 1-2 tablespoons of salt per 10 litres water. Hard, neutral to alkaline water. Can be kept with bumblebees. Eats small live foods, and apparently rice bran (whatever that is); also flake food (!!).

Also check out Fishbase. The reporting population doubling time is 15 months; in other words, they grow and mature quickly enough for a population to double in size within 15 months. That's pretty fast. Unhappily for this goby, it's probably extinct in the Philippines thanks to local pollution. I don't have anything that gives me a definite age for this fish, but given its size, I'd be surprised if it lived for more than 2 years.

Cheers,

Neale

(Note: bumblebee gobies are also supposedly brackish water, but the most recent things I've read contradict that [e.g. Aqualog book on brackish fish] and my own bumblebees are thriving in soft/acid water. So, there may be errors as far as reported water conditions for this dwarf goby go.)