Yellow Watchman Goby

[Jeffy Jr]

I've been searching around for an answer and it may simply be stress or perhaps gender change although the Goby looked like this from the day I got him/her and hasn't changed much since.

Eating fine, acting normal, just the coloration is off. I was expecting a vivid bright yellow and got this instead. I have a hard time believing the gender change simply because I got the Goby on Wednesday and I believe it to be pretty young. Plus, there's not another Goby in the tank which to my understanding is normally what will cause them to begin the gender changes.

Any ideas? Reason for concern?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jeffy Jr]

I have searched all over for a 'female' yellow watchman goby which looks like this and I cannot find anything.

Is it possible this isn't a ywg?

 

[Gill_bucket]

ya it is not a yellow. They come in that white coloration too, at least I see them at my LFS all the time. Other than the color you cant really tell the difference between the two.

 

[kcooley]

it is a petco watchman goby.

 

[falconut]

I'm not sure what causes the change in color, but I purchased a large Yellow Watchman Goby that was yellow and within a week it turned whitish.

 

[melanotaenia]

what color was the Goby when you purchased it at the store? Was it bright yellow there?

 

[Jeffy Jr]

It was ordered from LiveAquaria although the coloration was NEVER anything close to yellow. It was more of a light tan color

 

[philbo32]

It's a female yellow watchman goby, I have a spawning pair and my female looks identical to yours. The male is bright yellow and the female has gone from light yellow with dark bands to almost white with dark bands over the last 2 years.

 

[melanotaenia]

It was ordered from LiveAquaria although the coloration was NEVER anything close to yellow. It was more of a light tan color

Interesting; it might be a good idea to take one of these pictures and email it to them directly to find out what is the story is on this fish. I can tell you that when I got my YWG he was bright yellow from day one and never lost that color throughout its lifespan.

 

[Jeffy Jr]

Yeah I emailed LA about it and they even extended the warranty to ensure it was healthy.

I guess it's just a female, no biggie. I don't dislike it, just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with it.

Philbo32,

You said yours are spawning, is this the first time? I would like to get a male watchman and was just wondering what all you have experienced with male and female ywg?

 

[philbo32]

I have a male and female YWG pair which live with a pistol shrimp. I added the male YWG which has always been bright yellow about 2 and a half years ago along with the pistol shrimp. I looked into distinguishing males and females YWG, and found little info on the web, I found one statement which was quoted from a book stating that the female is more pale yellow/greenish with dark bands. 6 months later I found a pale yellow YWG with dark bands at my LFS. After I added her the male showed interest straight away and she just joined him next to his and the pistol shrimps hole. They initially took around 2 months for her to fatten up and spawn. The first time I noticed the spawn the male hadn't come out for food and looking in their hole I saw him moving the egg mass around in his mouth, he had also kicked out the pistol shrimp and the female. Now they spawn about once every 3-6 weeks. You can tell when they have spawned, the female will get large around her belly (full of eggs) and then she'll be thin again and the male will be in there hole not tempted to come out when I feed them, guarding there eggs. Will post some pics of gobies with spawn and the eggs up close in a min.

 

[philbo32]

This is a photo from about a few weeks after the female was added.

 

[Jeffy Jr]

I guess mine is just colored more white than most I see...I wouldn't say mine had ANY yellow what so ever to it at this point.

So will the eggs hatch or do they normally get eaten before then?

 

[philbo32]

The eggs will hatch, but will get eaten by other tank inhabitants. I have removed a couple of batches of eggs and managed to get them to about day 2 post hatch before they died. I will be setting up a better system for them and some better first food from ZM systems, hopefully be more successful next time.

 

[Jeffy Jr]

Thanks for all the info! If you dont mind post up your results once tried with different first food.

 

[Loganeri]

This may help.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/ft/index.php

 

[philbo32]

Managed to get a descent picture of them together out of their burrow today...

 

[Gill_bucket]

That is cool!!!