Yellow Watchman Coloration - Juvenile

[hypermikie]

I have a small YWG. I have had him for a about 2-3 weeks and his color is not very yellow at all.

This being my first YWG and what appears to be a juvenile, I was wondering if they tend to color up more yellow as they get older?

Mike

BTW - I will try to get a pic...

 

[Tballa]

A pic ould help. There are alot of watchmans that aren't yellow watchmans. I have a huge YWG and he is rediculously yellow. All of the small ones i've seen are yellow too and it usually has to do with nutrition. Go to Petco and their YWGs are usually grey and about to die. I'd ash where did u get it and is it in good shape? Also, are u sure its a YWG and not another type of watchman?

 

[hypermikie]

I picked him up at Premium Aquatics. Very reputable and knowledgable.

I will get a pic when lights come on....

 

[Angel*Fish]

and it usually has to do with nutrition

I'm not sure it's that simple -- Sounds like the ones at Petco may have been colored that way due to stress (stress which probably included improper diet and more )

A couple of comments regarding threads below -
Normally if someone is breeding a marine fish, he is feeding a very high qualitity diet - and there was a least one case of different coloration of fish sharing the same burrow... Hope these shed some light

Interesting thread

Article on spwaning/pairing

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=912624&highlight=watchman+AND+color

Another opinion

 

[burton61775]

My YWG has been an albino ever since i introduced him in my display tank. There never been anythign wrong with him, healthy as can be and eats likes a pig and even shifts sand from time to time, and loves to be up next to the front glass to look at ya.

Here's a pic of him, its a bit old but he looks the same.

The 2 reason i got why he/she is that way was: one like someone said before he was stressed at the LFS and continue to be stressed once i got him home and took a while to settleed down and might one day get its yellow color back, and the other explanation i got on here was that some females tend to turn white. Either way or if neither is true i have a prefectly healthy YWG that will probably always be albino

 

[hypermikie]

Thanks Angel... I did a search, but didn't see those threads, good reading

Like someone else said "I would have though with a YWG being such a common fish I would have heard of this before"

Here is efroggies, from another thread, which mine looks exactly like:

 

[lhoy]

The watchman goby comes in several different shades and it has absolutely nothing to do with health, nutrition, or impending death; just genetics.

For photos of the variations check here: http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/ThumbnailsSummary.php?ID=7208

I have one with this coloration: http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.cfm?StartRow=6&ID=7208&what=species

As you can see the base ground color can be yellow, brownish, whitish, or grayish.

Later,

Lee

 

[edwing206]

i love those fish i have 2 very yellow with little blue dots

 

[dc]

Mine are both still yellow, my friends both turned white.

 

[Amphiprion]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8139754#post8139754 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lhoy
The watchman goby comes in several different shades and it has absolutely nothing to do with health, nutrition, or impending death; just genetics.

For photos of the variations check here: http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/ThumbnailsSummary.php?ID=7208

I have one with this coloration: http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSummary.cfm?StartRow=6&ID=7208&what=species

As you can see the base ground color can be yellow, brownish, whitish, or grayish.

Later,

Lee

Agreed. The fish still is Cryptocentrus cinctus.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Amphiprion - didn't some of the people say that their changed color? Obviously these individuals would be genetically destined to do so & I agree with the poster you quoted too...

What about very young juveniles - I thought I read that some start out "white" and change - Truthfully I need to go back and read those links - but I just don't have time right now.

On a side note, I've been meaning to give you a compliment --- I'm really impressed with your fish knowledge, I've read many of your posts and can't recall a time when you have ever been shown to be wrong, BTW

 

[Amphiprion]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8143910#post8143910 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angel*Fish
Amphiprion - didn't some of the people say that their changed color? Obviously these individuals would be genetically destined to do so & I agree with the poster you quoted too...

What about very young juveniles - I thought I read that some start out "white" and change - Truthfully I need to go back and read those links - but I just don't have time right now.

On a side note, I've been meaning to give you a compliment --- I'm really impressed with your fish knowledge, I've read many of your posts and can't recall a time when you have ever been shown to be wrong, BTW

Hah, thanks I really appreciate that. There are plenty of times I have been wrong--you just didn't notice them, lol.

I have never really reared this species, so I am only speaking from what I have seen. It is usually true that they start out whitish or similar and metamorphose into a yellow color. Another interesting anomaly is that only larger individuals tend to be the darker color (often the female), leading some speculation that the species is dichromatic. But others have noted color shifts in adults (often back and forth). It may simply be a dominance display or brought about by environmental factors. Some have even suggested hermaphroditism, which is plausible, but one can only speculate. Relatively little is known on the natural history, reproduction (though larvae are reared), etc on this species, so only more research will tell. There is a reefkeeping article on the subject, I believe that pretty much sums everything I have just said. I don't think the author reached a conclusion, either, but tended to lean on the dichromatism.

 

[Tballa]

What I said agrees with all of the things you guys are saying. Either it is nutrient problem that is causing a pale washed-out color OR it is a different watchman species other than the YWG. I didn't say that it was totally because of unhealthy but that does have to be taken into consideration. It just appears that you have a different species of watchman. Just for the record, although because the fish was bought from a very reputable dealer, health of the fish and nutrient problems definately can be the cause of coloration problems.

 

[lhoy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8134490#post8134490 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tballa
There are alot of watchmans that aren't yellow watchmans. Also, are u sure its a YWG and not another type of watchman?

It is not a different species. The Latin name is the same for all the color variations. Check the link I provided up above. That is the problem when using common names (the reef hobby should really consider using scientific names for fish and invertebrates (it would be hard for many LPS and SPS because you can only ID to species by the skeleton and who wants to kill their coral for an accurate ID).

The name of the species we are discussing is Cryptocentrus cinctus . That is what is referred to as Yellow Watchman Goby, Watchman Goby, Yellow Prawn Goby, and on ebay "The uper rare Blue-spotted, Yellow tinted Shrimp Goby." That is why common names are worthless when referring to species. You must follow the Latin name to compare fish to fish. There are many color variations to this single species as noted on the fishbase site.

Someone said "albino" watchman goby. True albino's lack any pigment in all areas of skin, eyes, nails, fins, fur, etc. The fish above is not albino. Leucistic is a animal/fish that lacks pigment in the flesh, but the eyes, nails, and other such items retain color.

As you can see on the fishbase site, some are very pale appearing almost whitish and some are vibrant yellow. All shades in between are still Cryptocentrus cinctus.

Lee