Coral Croucher Gobies

Bongo Shrimp

Bongo Shrimp

P. ceratophthalma
I saw a pair of Coral Croucher Gobies for sale on live aquaria. I thought they would be cool to have in my reef. I know they are venomous but are they actually good reef inhabitants?

Will they eat other fish or small shrimp?

And will they hurt other fish if they by accident touch them in the wrong place (spine)?
I wouldn't want my mandarin to accidently land on one and get injured.
 
I had one for several months in my 12 gal nano.
He didn't move much at all and needed target feeding.
He never hurt me and I am sure I brushed against him.
He was too small to disturb any other fish. Very much a wait-in-the-cracks for food to float by kind of fish. :-)

gumdrop.jpg
 
I lost mine in a tank move. And yes, they aren't much for chasing after food. These guys will hang onto a piece of rock and wait for the food to come to them. I've been looking for one local and they're tougher to find than I thought. Cool little buggers.
 
So are they too small to eat a sexy shrimp?

And, if you've had a mandarin, you may know that they don't really look at what they are landing on when swimming around. Mine will sometimes land on corals or other things by accident. Do you think a mandarin could get injured from landing on one of them?

Do we know where they are venomous (spine, skin, or if eaten)?

Are they aggressive at all?

I just wouldn't want to limit myself from getting something else later.


And are they big time hiders? or will they go out in the open?
 
I have the same question as Bongo.

Will they eat sexy shrimp? Periclimines shrimp? Holthius shrimp?

Will the eat yellow clown gobies? Trimma and Eviota gobies?

Perhaps because they look a lot like little frogfish, I've been told they will eat small gobies and shrimp.

Does anyone have personal experience with them?
 
I think I mentioned in my blog post that I kept mine with tiny gobies like Eviotas, Trimmas, and clown gobies. I also keep a lot of tiny crustaceans and shrimps, and he never gave a thought to any of them. I imagine a coral croucher might eat a very small sexy shrimp, though, if it ever came close to him. But anything bigger than that should be safe.

I know coral crouchers are venomous, but the guys at work handle them with their bare hands (it's better than a net) and don't get stung ever. Fish that brush up against them don't seem to get stung, either, so I wouldn't worry about your dragonet.

They do tend to hide a lot, but if you know where they live, you can pretty much always see them. They have to be target fed, very slow eaters.

If you have any other questions, let me know.
 
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great information, great link.

Up until now I've been afraid to try one in my 20 gal with tiny gobies and shrimp. This tank will be perfect for them because it was specifically set up for little critters that hide. The rocks were carefully arranged so there are lots of caves, but every inch inside can be seen. Lots of hiding places, but no place to hide.
 
They do tend to hide a lot, but if you know where they live, you can pretty much always see them. They have to be target fed, very slow eaters.
Click to expand...

:)

I smile at that because that hasn't been my experience at all. My citrons have no trouble (other than not having a swim bladder) joining in the tank feeding frenzy and are perfectly willing to chase even large tangs away from their nest. For small gobies, they remind me a lot of the pugnaciousness of the damsels. Not in a bad way, but very assertive about their territory.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15716169#post15716169 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by "Umm, fish?"
:)

I smile at that because that hasn't been my experience at all. My citrons have no trouble (other than not having a swim bladder) joining in the tank feeding frenzy and are perfectly willing to chase even large tangs away from their nest. For small gobies, they remind me a lot of the pugnaciousness of the damsels. Not in a bad way, but very assertive about their territory.
Click to expand...

Are you referring to citron gobies or coral crouchers?

We were saying that coral crouchers tend to hide a lot and must be target fed. They are clumsy swimmers and prefer to wedge their thin bodies in between coral branches or live rock crevices. Mine was really personable, for a coral croucher. I love this pic of him eating out of the feeding syringe.

<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FpWiOJSiT8E/SdP9_QSE3II/AAAAAAAAAPQ/cnqrGYmp1GE/s320/Caracanthus+madagascariensis+feeding.jpg">
 
"Coral croucher" has always meant gobies in the genus Gobiodon to me. But I can certainly be wrong. I'm talking about Gobiodon citrinus.
 
Bongo shrimp,please clarify if you mean coral gobies (yellow)
or coral crouchers,as in the pics above,which BTW are not gobies but related to scorpionfish;)
 
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