Jawfish Compatibility

[seanm001]

I'm considering getting a yellow-headed jawfish and I'm wondering if they are compatible with gobies, particularly the smaller shrimp gobies like Yashia or Tangaroa?

It seems that aggression level among gobies is related to how similar they look, and the jawfish certainly looks a lot like a goby.

I don't have any of the above-mentioned fish at the present time, but I'm trying to do my homework to make sure I don't end up with incompatible tankmates.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[philter4]

Depends on size, I have a lot of jawfish and they will eat a small fish if they can get it in their mouth, I've seen them take a small, 2 inch grunt, that one of my banded jawfish bashed against a rock until it was torn up enough for him to eat.

 

[seanm001]

Wow... that was graphic but enlightening. Had no idea jawfish did that, that's down right predatory. Most descriptions say they kind of hang out in their burrow and just wait for little morsels to float by.

From what I've read, the yellow-headed jawfish gets to max 4" and the shrimp gobies I'd consider getting at some point would be the smaller ones, max size of 2" or so.

Is that too much of a size discrepancy? It seems to me that even a small 2" jawfish could get a full-grown 2" goby in its enormous maw...

Thanks for the honest feedback.

Sean

 

[philter4]

The yellow heads I have are the least likely to eat larger food items, but you have to try to see if it will eat the goby, I couldn't tell just from the sizes. My guess would they would be ok together, but like I said, I have seen other species eat an animal that I thought was too big.