Lizard Goby

ID points

• Very small, with a short rounded body flattened side to side
• Spends its whole life among the branches of one staghorn coral
• Skin gives off a bitter mucus that deters predators

Basics

Family

Gobiidae

Length

2–4 cm

Depth

1-20 m

Regions

Indo-Pacific reefs

Distribution

Coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific

Habitat

Among branching coral

Diet

Plankton and detritus

Easily confused with

Yellow Watchman GobyBright yellow all over, scattered with small pale blue spotsGobyThe two pelvic fins are fused into a single suckerMudskipperTwo eyes bulge from the top of the head and swivel independently

Fun fact

It looks and behaves remarkably like a lizard, often lying motionless on its side on the rock, waiting to take small invertebrates that pass by. It is the idler among hunting gobies.

More in this family

• Neon Goby
• Shrimp Goby
• Signal Goby