Griessingeri Goby Thread;

[35Cents]

Hi to all,

Started this thread out of disappointment in not able to find advance information about these wonderful specie. All information I found so far in the web mostly only state the required water parameters in order to keep the fish healthy, little information like behavior, breeding or feeding are not available, not even in RC. Perhaps these fishes are rare and hard (not to mention expensive for the size!) to observe as they are often in hiding. But I found a website containing field notes from hobbyists keeping them, but need to pay to access the information; don’t feel like paying for unknown amount of information available.

The following are researched information and my field notes so far (2 weeks) on the pair I got, veteran and new alike collectors please kindly share your experiences and knowledge.

The Griessingeri goby (Dicordipinna griessingeri), aka Spikefin goby, is a resilient fish that needs very little maintenance or care to keep. They are small gobies growing to a maximum length of 5cm. Although liveaquaria.com stated that they originated only in Cebu (Philippines), they are in fact widely distributed from the red sea to Asian seas. I found Japanese websites that show divers photographing the griessingeri gobies in parts of Okinawa at a depth of around 15m to 39m {Source: http://uri.sakura.ne.jp/~dd/g/jg-002.htm and http://uri.sakura.ne.jp/~dd/g/jg-185.htm (splendid griessingeri!)}.

Its Chow:

Although some sites suggest feeding them with brim/mysis shrimp but their primary diet consists of copepods and amphipods lurking in the sand and rocks. I tried feeding them live brine shrimps before but they don’t seem to take it, thus I’m now dosing live phytoplankton to keep up the pods population. I have observed that the goby uses its long dorsal fin to strike pods in front of them and quickly gobble it up. Its eye-catching pectoral fins also serve as a barrier or net to sweep its prey closer to its mouth.

Its Mannerism:

Besides using the long fin for “hunting”, they also seem to serve as a form of communication within the specie. This is evident when I added in the second goby (1 day difference) into the tank. Upon seeing the second and bigger goby, the smaller goby moves its dorsal fin in a rhythmic pattern and moves in and out of its burrow under the LR as if inviting the bigger one to join it. They are also very shy creatures that will dart into LR or sand barrows (they don’t make burrows, burrows below LR made by my cuke) upon sudden presence, at least mine for the record! They don’t move, or more specifically swim like other fishes, they drag themselves around with their pelvic fins much like a scooter blenny, thus making them unlikely jumpers as they spent nearly all of their time on “ground”, but I did saw both of my gobies able to “crawl” a few inches up the tank walls to hunt.

Its Crib:

Although I occasionally see the two gobies together but they don’t share the same hole/burrow or feed/hunt together. I find that they are diurnal creatures, meaning they only conduct their activities when there’s light. Almost every time during lights off, using a flashlight, I’m able to find them resting in their respective cribs. I have one in a burrow under a big flat LR and the other in a hole of another LR. This is perhaps one of the reasons why they are recommended to be kept in a nano tank as I can imagine trying to spot them in a 3 or more footer tank. Besides providing plenty of LR for them, I would recommend that intent buyers should also choose LR with porous surfaces as they like to do their hunting and resting in small holes (Hmmm…somehow that sounds corny ).

Its Mojo:

To date, I’m unable to find any information as to how to identify the sexes or mating information of the goby. However, some websites briefly indicates young gobies does goes thru an unsex period and are able to reproduce in less than 15 months (in captivity I assume, how to observe this small creatures in the wild??) {Source: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?id=7212}.

Its would-be collectors:

The griessingeri goby is definitely an attractive and VERY interesting addition to the tank. But IMHO, it’s important to make sure that there are no predators in your tank as in mantis shrimp, etc. This is due to its small size…can be easily gobbled up in one strike. But also due to its size, they are able to squeeze themselves into the tiniest hole, making spotting them difficult especially in larger tanks with many rockworks. It is advised that collectors spent some time observing the goby after releasing them into the tank. Besides observing the behavior of resident LS, it’s good to take note which area/LR the goby went into as it will most likely make a home out of it if no other LS resides near there, thus making spotting them easier. One last note, if you think your griessingeri had disappeared and dead, you are wrong if confirm no predators in your tank. I personally had the bigger one missing for the last 5 days in my sparse but big footprint LR only to find it appearing on the open sandbed feeding pods this morning.

Thanks for reading my boring write-up… house having renovation works, had to be around and bored to tears thus writing this up. Do feel free to ask any questions and more importantly, collectors please input observations! Cheers.

[35Cents]

This pic is blurry as I rushed to try to get a good shot of both gobies in the open.

[nicky30092002]

nice nice .. where did u get them ..

[williammuk]

Eventhough I'm not a collector, I found your article interesting and definitely not boring to read. Very good job on the write-up. This is the kind of information that would be useful for all to share.

Keep it up and do share more observations and photos ... if you're able to snap them.

[35Cents]

nice nice .. where did u get them ..

The one and only ML.

[hamannbmw]

tis is mine

[35Cents]

Hi Hamannbmw,

Saw this one when I bought my first small one, damn beautiful! But next day go back only left one big one...not as nice colouration as yours but smaller size than yours. I guess their colour will change from bright orange to reddish as they grow.

How is yours doing? Errr...you like got a big tank dude...how? Got to see it again?

[diabolus]

tis is mine

i think this is the only pic you'll ever take...

[hamannbmw]

i think this is the only pic you'll ever take...

hahah.. yup , u r right, this is the only pic i took , but i know its hiding place... so every now and then if i miss her, i'll shine my touch and find her

[shawncel]

I have a gressingerri in my 1' nano together with a yashia goby and pistol shrimp pair.

But it is always hiding and difficult to get a good pic of it. It hides in holes in my lr and only comes out once in a while to look for pods. Have bred brine shrimps to feed it but cannot confirm whether it actually feeds on them.

I love the way it flicks its fins when it moves around.

[FuEl]

Awesome fish...if only it was made by nature as a shrimp goby.. Wish I had the chance to keep one..Oh well..have to wait till I'm back..hopefully the pricing of the goby would have dropped slightly..

[diabolus]

Awesome fish...if only it was made by nature as a shrimp goby.. Wish I had the chance to keep one..Oh well..have to wait till I'm back..hopefully the pricing of the goby would have dropped slightly..

i think the price will go up now that there are more publicity on this fish.

[Achilles Tang]

Have u tried squirting cyclop-eze infront of it to see it eats them?

My worry is that the pod population will disappear and they don't know what else to eat?

Good writeup!!

[35Cents]

Many thanks to all for the comments, but no one got any observations or experiences to share?

AT, you had to see how elusive this goby is... anything that goes into the tank will make them scamble into hiding. Thus hard to observe whether they will take cyclopeeze or not.. but thanks for the suggestion, I will try it soon. Henry actually told me no need to feed it anything else but suggested to dose phyto to keep the pods growing....but as we all are guilty of, we tend to worry that our precious are not getting enough TLC.

I managed to find a site hosting a small video footage of the spikefin...enjoy:

http://www3.plala.or.jp/kyo241/homura.htm

Click on the lower pic to play the short mpeg file.

[hamannbmw]

wow.. nice clips, looks like walking thru the sandbed

[KingFish]

Good writeup, couldn't have done it better myself.

I see that you have an attached refugium which should keep your pod population going as long as you keep your phyto supplement going.

Noticed that you are using MH for the nano, I'm theorizing but have you considered a more subdued lighting to encourage more appearances?

[KingFish]

As for determining the ######, you might need to note down the behaviour of the 2 to see if you see any peculiarities.

If you can get a decent picture of them, you can compare them with any other pictures you can gather, from the net or owners. That might indicate some physical differences. It could be anything from colouration, length and broadness of fins, etc.

Here's a trick I learnt while photographing elusive fishes:

- Mount your camera in front of where the fish might appear way before your scheduled date and hope they will get used to it.

- Pre-determine the approximate sighting area and configure your camera settings. Take a few test shots.

- Use remote control if you have them. If you have to shoot manually, move very slowly so as not to startle the fish.

Good Luck

[35Cents]

Many thanks for the compliments and tips but that is not my main objective. I was hoping that there are collectors that are able to disclose more information about this beautiful goby.

As for the lights, I'm currently using 2X T5 tubes as my MH bracket stand is not ready yet. Sorry about the confusion in my signature...friend did that for me (I'm an idiot to photoshop) in anticipation of employing the MH soon. I don't think its the lights that deter the gobies from venturing out cos many times when I walked into my room, I do spot them perching on the LR and sand. But as I walk close to the tank they will hide. So usually what I do is to sit besides the tank for around 5 mins before they come out to "play"

Also thanks for the tip to identify the ###### of the gobies....trying to get a clean full shot of the bigger one (smaller and braver one in signature) for comparision.

[diabolus]

i am thinking of setting up another 1 ft tank just to cultivate copepods for the griessingeri.

just dump lots of LR and some macro algae and dose with rotifers and phyto every other day.

Like bro 35cents, i'm also concern with its diet, i was planning to put it in a bare tank and try feeding it with all kind of food to see which it feeds on.copepods,cyclopeeze and rotifers. but my concern is whether the fish will be stress out with no hiding place.

Im still pondering if i should remove all my mushies and zoos from the tank before i introduce the fish in. might have to rescape my tank again.

35cents : is it a bottom dwelling goby? planning to put all the softies high up, hoping that it will not hide there.

[35Cents]

Its bottom dwelling for sure.... provide one piece of poreous LR first for the bare feeding tank for it to hid. No worries, its a very hardy goby despite its size. I advise you to let the copepod to increase its population first b4 adding the goby just in case it dont eat your feed. Let us know what it feed on ok?

Cheers and welcome to the griessingeri club!

[Marine Dreamer]

Just got myseif a Griessingeri Goby from Henry recently, was surprise when i saw the Goby cause it was about 3 cm in length.

Was worried that it might not survive in my tank but Henry assure me that the Goby will do fine as long as there is enough live rock as shelter and food source.

True enough, the Griessingeri Goby was seem happily moving from one LR to another hunting for copepods.

[diabolus]

got 3cm meh?

the latest shipment from ML are very tiny, biggest no more than 1.5cm.

guys, the griessingeri is now in a betta box in my nano tank, placed a few small pcs of LR for it to hide. I dose some rotifers into the box just now, his spikefin arches forward and mouth looks like its feeding.

I'm seriously trying my luck with rotifers, since everytime when i dose rtifers into the tank, my clownfishes and chromis will attack like siao. since they like them, i hope the griessingeri likes it too.

will try to get some copepods and see if its the same reaction.

cross my fingers!

[moxa]

got 3cm meh?

the latest shipment from ML are very tiny, biggest no more than 1.5cm.

guys, the griessingeri is now in a betta box in my nano tank, placed a few small pcs of LR for it to hide. I dose some rotifers into the box just now, his spikefin arches forward and mouth looks like its feeding.

I'm seriously trying my luck with rotifers, since everytime when i dose rtifers into the tank, my clownfishes and chromis will attack like siao. since they like them, i hope the griessingeri likes it too.

will try to get some copepods and see if its the same reaction.

cross my fingers!

Hi Bro Diabulos,

Any pic of your new collection?

cheers

Moxa

[diabolus]

not yet not yet...

but will take a couple pics of it before it gets lost in the zoos garden when i release it out of the betta tank.

[35Cents]

got 3cm meh?

the latest shipment from ML are very tiny, biggest no more than 1.5cm.

guys, the griessingeri is now in a betta box in my nano tank, placed a few small pcs of LR for it to hide. I dose some rotifers into the box just now, his spikefin arches forward and mouth looks like its feeding.

I'm seriously trying my luck with rotifers, since everytime when i dose rtifers into the tank, my clownfishes and chromis will attack like siao. since they like them, i hope the griessingeri likes it too.

will try to get some copepods and see if its the same reaction.

cross my fingers!

Dude thanks for the info regarding the rotifers...will try it soon. Managed to get a pic of my 2nd larger griess (1st one in signature) yesterday.... Hoping to see your pics soon too....oh and could others griess collectors post pics too so that we can have a discussion on how to id the ###### based on the appearance as Mod Rumor had suggested above.