Shrimp Goby

ID points

• Several broad orange bars on a white ground
• Shares a burrow with a near-blind pistol shrimp and stands guard
• The shrimp keeps an antenna resting on the fish at all times

Basics

Family

Gobiidae

Length

7–12 cm

Depth

1-30 m

Regions

Indo-Pacific reefs

Distribution

Sand and mud bottoms of the Indo-Pacific

Habitat

Sand and mud slopes near reefs

Diet

Small crustaceans

Easily confused with

Signal GobyEach of the two dorsal fins carries a large eyespot, together like a faceGobyThe two pelvic fins are fused into a single suckerLizard GobyVery small, with a short rounded body flattened side to side

Fun fact

It lives in partnership with a pistol shrimp: the nearly blind shrimp does the digging while the sharp-eyed goby stands sentry. At any hint of danger the goby darts back into the burrow, and since the shrimp keeps an antenna resting on the goby's body it feels the move and retreats right behind it.

More in this family

• Mudskipper
• Neon Goby
• Yellow Watchman Goby