Whitecap Goby (Lotilia graciliosa)

The Lotilia goby is about as shy as it can possible get for a goby. I've seen them in the Red Sea several times, but getting close to them without a rebreather is basically impossible. If you are on normal scuba gear and make bubbles they dive into their burrow as soon as you get closer than 15 feet. A few became available in Japan a while back, but the price was in the 1000+$ range IIRC.
With a 20 gal don't even think about a C. interruptus, these guys get huge, this isn't even big enough for a juvie.
Enough has been said about the C. resplendens, it is a Red List species. A few are being smuggled out to Japan every year, but this is all pretty illegal and I wouldn't encourage anyone buying illegal fish. I was lucky to see them in the wild while diving on Ascension Island, they live in huge groups. So if this species every becomes available I would either scrape together enough money to buy several of them or pass the offer. This fish should not be kept as a single specimen!

Jens
If you really want to go for a tank with "rare" specimen, why not invest half of the money into a decent sized setup before
 
Thats amazing your so lucky to have seen them diving thats truly amazing!Why wouldnt a diver then "Scoop" up the entire burrow? The sand would be sifted through the net leaving the goby and shrimp to be collected no?Yea i understand and i will not be getting C. interruptus thats for sure. I know its a red list species but it has also been captive bred and i would never contribute to the smuggling trade by buying a fish thats on the red list species like that , thats just wrong!! I have a 75gallon brand new with everything i need but at the present time there is no room for it. I like nano's better as well to be honest alot more work goes into them and its more rewarding for me to maintain a nano. When i get a bigger apartment i will probably have a 210gallon and 2-3 nanos setup as id like to have a go at breeding some snowflake and/or picasso clowns as well. I love the fact of keeping a piece of reef healthy in a tiny box :) .The money isnt really an issue for the fish and if one of the people ive contacted can come through i will surely buy as many as they can get and mabe have a go at trying to breed them perhaps instead( the goby that is) who knows though im just putting it all out there :)
 
twelvejewelz said:
Thats amazing your so lucky to have seen them diving thats truly amazing!Why wouldnt a diver then "Scoop" up the entire burrow? The sand would be sifted through the net leaving the goby and shrimp to be collected no?
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Burrowing fish in general dig much deeper than just below the surface of the sea floor. They also don't necessarily dig in a perfectly vertical fashion. So what you're suggesting would be impossible. Also it would be an extremely disruptive and destructive collection method.
 
Stumped said:
Burrowing fish in general dig much deeper than just below the surface of the sea floor. They also don't necessarily dig in a perfectly vertical fashion. So what you're suggesting would be impossible. Also it would be an extremely disruptive and destructive collection method.
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Do you really think it would be that disruptive? I mean really your just kind of stirring the sand its not like you'd be wrecking or touching the actual reef base in this case. I know i have a yellow watchman goby/yellow pistol shrimp pair now that have a burrow in about a 1 square foot space now but they always stay in the same burrow and never change entrances. I guess each shrimp/goby have different habits though as ive seen some that dig non stop.
With such rare fish as these and fish that are on the red list it would be a good idea for people to breed these fish. I dont understand why RCT would even stop. They may have been able to get grants and do it for free for Centropyge resplendens they could introduce them back to the wild and help wild populations if they did it in a sterile enough environment.
 
Jewelz, have you ever tried breeding any saltwater fish? It's not super easy. Clownfish may be relatively easy, but others are not so much.

RCT stopped because Frank was trying to finish up his PhD (IIRC) and raising angels is ridiculously time consuming. I believe that he had to go out and sieve for plankton daily, which takes time in itself, not to mention all of the feeding, water changes, monitoring, and egg collection that has to take place.

Even if you managed to get a pair of these gobies, who's to say they'll ever spawn for you? In order to get some of these rarer fish to spawn conditions have to be PERFECT. If there aren't many people keeping them (which there aren't), then it would be very hard to get enough input on what makes these fish thrive, let alone breed. Then, even if they do start breeding, what would these guys eat? Rotifers? Maybe, or maybe not. If nobody keeps them and nobody's bred them then nobody knows how to raise the fry.

It's not as easy as getting two fish together and hope they breed...there's a lot more work that goes into rearing fish than just getting broodstock and rotifers....
 
Chelsey said:
Jewelz, have you ever tried breeding any saltwater fish? It's not super easy. Clownfish may be relatively easy, but others are not so much.

RCT stopped because Frank was trying to finish up his PhD (IIRC) and raising angels is ridiculously time consuming. I believe that he had to go out and sieve for plankton daily, which takes time in itself, not to mention all of the feeding, water changes, monitoring, and egg collection that has to take place.

Even if you managed to get a pair of these gobies, who's to say they'll ever spawn for you? In order to get some of these rarer fish to spawn conditions have to be PERFECT. If there aren't many people keeping them (which there aren't), then it would be very hard to get enough input on what makes these fish thrive, let alone breed. Then, even if they do start breeding, what would these guys eat? Rotifers? Maybe, or maybe not. If nobody keeps them and nobody's bred them then nobody knows how to raise the fry.

It's not as easy as getting two fish together and hope they breed...there's a lot more work that goes into rearing fish than just getting broodstock and rotifers....
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+1. Jewelz, you are grossly undersestimating the effort, skill, and monetary loss involved in breeding most marines.
 
twelvejewelz said:
Do you really think it would be that disruptive? I mean really your just kind of stirring the sand its not like you'd be wrecking or touching the actual reef base in this case. I know i have a yellow watchman goby/yellow pistol shrimp pair now that have a burrow in about a 1 square foot space now but they always stay in the same burrow and never change entrances. I guess each shrimp/goby have different habits though as ive seen some that dig non stop.
With such rare fish as these and fish that are on the red list it would be a good idea for people to breed these fish. I dont understand why RCT would even stop. They may have been able to get grants and do it for free for Centropyge resplendens they could introduce them back to the wild and help wild populations if they did it in a sterile enough environment.
Click to expand...

One more thing, C. resplendens are not on the IUCN redlist because they are rare or endangered. If youve ever seen pictures of them in their native habitat, they are swarming. They are on the list becuase they are a geographically limited and restricted species. That being said, they do deserve protection, but reintroduction is not a necessity with these fish.
 
Thanks Chelsey and jmaneyapanda. I understand as im having my first go at trying to raise clowns as we speak. Ive been breeding african cichlids for many years and i can tell you for sure its alot easier than marine fish lol . I have a rotifier culture going right now and brine shrimp eggs as well. Its actually kind of a pain to be honest. Im thinking of buying some picassos or snowflake clowns to try and breed now as well though.This is my first time getting my clowns to spawn and they are over 2 years old so i can just imagine how hard it must be to try and raise angels or gobys!
Im not to sure youd really lose money though to raise the angels as people would be willing to pay 1k-2k a piece, say you got 50 in 1 shot thats 100,000$ , minus expenses your probably left with about 90k even paying for equipment, then its smooth sailing form there i would think. And i wasnt aware of the reason they were on the red list thanks for that info :) .
i asked someone that raises Centropye Argi and they said "it's a bit more involved than just using greenwater and rotifers. Karen Britain did raise Genicanthus personatus on rotifers and ciliates, but it seems that the greater amount of success has come with the addition of calanoid copepod nauplii, and of course, it's not just any old calanoid.
"
it just seems after research that it would be similar to raising clowns just alittle harder to find a food source. once you have it though i would think youd be good to go. Either way the more info you all give me the better thanks :))
 
Who was this someone that raises C. argi? Have they gotten them through metamorphosis?

People might pay 1k-2k a piece for the resplendens, but for how long? Angels spawn nearly nightly, if you were able to raise 50 per batch you'd quickly flood the market and the price would go down. Not to mention that it takes a LONG time to get angels to a saleable size...
 
As far as i know yes they have gotten them through the metamorphosis. they are also breeding those beautiful lightning maroon clowns as well as Oxymonacanthus longirostris and Pseudochromis cyanotaenia .I dont know them personally but i have contacted them with a bunch of questions and they have written be back. Ill shoot you a pm as well as im not a name dropper in an open forum :P .I just think with all of the breakthroughs in this hobby by now we would have these fish readily available and we wouldnt have to be ruining wild populations and or reefs around the world to get them. Its sad to see their natural habitats being destroyed . Ive seen some pretty beautiful pictures of the natural reefs but i have also seen some that are a mess and its a shame.Im willing to pay double the price for a fish that has been bred in captivity as to not contribute to any type of destruction but im sure alot of people arnt.
 
twelvejewelz said:
Do you really think it would be that disruptive? I mean really your just kind of stirring the sand its not like you'd be wrecking or touching the actual reef base in this case. I know i have a yellow watchman goby/yellow pistol shrimp pair now that have a burrow in about a 1 square foot space now but they always stay in the same burrow and never change entrances. I guess each shrimp/goby have different habits though as ive seen some that dig non stop.
Click to expand...

It would definitely be something I'd call needlessly disruptive. Imagine how many different things you'd be disturbing if you dug up even a 1' x 1' x 1' section to isolate a burrow. Now repeat that dozens of times in a given area, and repeat that multiple times a week/month/whatever. Obviously there are a lot more destructive methods currently used for other fish in the trade, but I still wouldn't suggest it'd be a reasonable option.
 
MikeandNicole said:
My local LFS down here in Jersey has a Whitecap Goby Lotilia graciliosa.
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Hello, im not to far from you. Can you please pm me the info of the LFS? Also are you sure its a whitecap because there is another goby that resembles the whitecap. How much are they selling it for?Thanks again
 
The name of the store is Tropiquarium, I am a regular there (buy my RO water there every week). The fish is a white capped goby, he showed it to me and showed me the pictures in the book. He was very excited about it, saying it was possibly the only one in the US right now. Price was $750 with a pistol. They have it towards the back of the fish aisle, not labled. I would post pics, but I could not get any as it was in the burrow with the pistol.
 
omfg thanks, i hope i can make it there before someone else grabs it up!!!wish me luck as i wont be able to get there until monday :( . Im going to call and ask if i can pay now in advance tomorrow. Do you know if they had it with its natural shrimp pair(Alpheus rubromaculatus)?I was just afraid it may have been a Cryptocentrus malindiensis but this is awsome!
 
Wow, thought it would cost more. As rare and beautiful as this fish is, id pay $ for it. Especially if it comes with a buddy.
 
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