Yellow Watchman Goby

[Matt]

We got a yellow watchman goby a while ago. Cute thing, bright yellow with blue "freckles". It disappeared shortly after introduction, and was only occassionally seen, always near the back, behind, under or inside rockwork. We did notice that it was fading. now it has decided to take up residence front and centre on the sand, building sand castles. Very adorable, but he is now gray everywhere he used to be yellow, and has developed dark horizontal bands.

Eats well, seems healthy. Anyone have experience with these things? Is it permanent colour loss? Tips?

Bah... TPIWWP...

Matthew

[Scavenger]

I'd suggest reading this article.

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

It may be your fish desided to be a girl.

[christyf5]

From the reading I've done I think that your fish is maturing and showing the female coloration. Not as bright as the male but still pretty neat

Here is a link from reefkeeping.com on breeding and rearing YWGs. If you scroll about halfway down the article gives you some info on coloration and sexing.

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

[Scavenger]

wha hooo, beat you by a whole 3 minutes that time Christy!!! LOL!

[christyf5]

Haha, I was editing it

[Matt]

You two are FAST!

Thanks for the reference. It appears that the colour-switching is normal, and can go either way...

Originally Posted by From the ReefKeeping Article

"I have seen this fish change color in both directions. Does this mean that they are changing gender as well?"

That article sent me in some new directions, including to the fishbase. What fun. As long as it (she?) is healthy, I don't really care what colour he/she is. I'm still looking for other references to sexual dichromatism (or hermaphroditism) in this species.

Many thanks!
Matthew

[OCDP]

That's really cool... cute fish.

My YWG looks grumpy all the time and is very territorial.