Age of a citron goby?   -02/20/08
Hi there.
I have been trying to find the life span of the Citron clown goby Gobiodon citrinus.
I work at the LFS and had a customer tell me that they only live for about a year. I have never heard of this but I also can't find anything that gives me an answer either way.
<::sigh:: It seems like sometimes aquarists like to convince themselves that these animals have short life spans so that they can feel better about themselves when they die suddenly. But to answer your question, no, these fish should live significantly longer than a year. However, it's difficult to find conclusive evidence on just how long they do live in the wild and/or under ideal conditions (but they should live at least several years). In captivity, they might not always adjust/adapt well to captive life (and/or they might already be "old" when we get them). They do best when kept with branching corals in tanks with generous micro-crustacean populations.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gobiodon.htm><<You can figure the longevity by species by reviewing length/age charts on Fishbase.org by species. RMF>>
Allison Genevieve
<Best,
Sara M.>

Crocea Clam and Yellow Clown Goby... Goby Hosting in a Clam   8/26/07
Hello WWM,
<Hi Jerry, Mich here.>
You guys are the best,
<Thank you for the kind words!>
I don't even bother asking the LFS my questions anymore.
<Know the feeling.>
I tried to find the answer on the website but with no luck.
<Didn’t find an answer, but I did find a query describing similar behavior. You can read more here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clamplcmtfaqs.htm
Tridacnid placement and attachment - 4/15/04 >
I have a Crocea Clam that has been with me for almost a year now. I Introduced a Citron Clown Goby to the tank and within the last 3 weeks, the Clown Goby has started to nestle down into the mouth of clam, then after a few minutes he viciously bites the clam and allows it to close around him. The Clown Goby then sits contented within the clam.
<I would absolutely love to see video of this. Any chance you can take any?>
He does this several times in a row and constantly throughout the day.
<This has to be absolutely adorable to observe.>
I looked for damage to the Crocea but there seems to be none.
<A good sign.>
Is this behavior normal?
<I’ve never heard of it before today, but that doesn’t mean too much. My fellow crew member Brenda just found this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/printthread.php?s=8b731f7485dc071e582beef3fc6dee0d&threadid=1139582
So it's doesn't seem like this behavior is all that rare. Typically these tiny fish hide out in Acropora and other "branchy" corals. Do you keep Acropora in this tank?>
More importantly will this bizarre relationship harm my Crocea?
<I don’t know if it’s harmfully to either for sure, If the clam is perpetually closed it would obviously interfere with the clams’ ability to take in nutrition. But I suspect this isn’t the case. Perhaps RMF will comment here.><<Not likely a problem. RMF>>
Thanks for all you help,
<Welcome! Would love to see this interaction. I do hope you might be able to send us a clip.>
Jerry
<Cheers,
Mich>

Goby Behaviour in Nano 4/10/07
I have a 3g Nano w 2.5g sump tank set up for about 4 months now (wow has it been that long) with roughly 5lbs of live rock in it. About two weeks ago I had to rescue a Brown Clown goby (similar to Citron) from my larger tank since he was extremely emaciated, too much competition I assume. Well I received a Yellow Watchman Goby I had ordered online about a week later and wanted to see your opinion on this behaviour... <These two fish are too much for this tank for long.>
I really doubted that they would get along at all, I made several separate caves and hiding nooks for each of them, however. They both sleep in the same cave. The sleep side-by-side and I believe the Watchman is eating just enough and leaving just enough for the shyer Clown to eat. I know Watchman's are pretty docile but they're practically attached at the hip. I've seen the Watchman leave, although only within 1" of the cave, only to retreat right back to his buddy. I was ready for a nuclear war in there.
<May still be coming, as they mature they may require more space and be less tolerant of other fish.>
I do have one question though, do Clown Gobies eat 'pods? <Not to any great extent.> I had originally purchased 2 and one died about 2 weeks later of starvation and this one has been hanging on. The fish in the large tank never leave scraps behind so that was my original assumption to his long life so far. There is tons of pods in the nano tank so I was guessing that he was also eating some of those. Crossing my fingers that he fattens up soon.
<These feed off Acropora coral almost exclusively in the wild.  Some have success feeding small meaty foods, although many have trouble getting them to eat at all.  Please see here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gobiodon.htm for more.>
<Chris>