Black Watchman Goby

The black watchman goby (Cryptocentrus cinctus) is a burrowing shrimp goby from Indo-Pacific lagoons and sheltered reef flats, where it lives at the mouth of a sand burrow. Dark charcoal individuals carry faint blue speckling on the head, and they spend most of the day propped on their pectoral fins, watching the open sand.

Aquarium care

• Provide a deep bed of fine sand mixed with rubble so the goby can dig a stable burrow.
• The partnership with a pistol shrimp (Alpheus species) is well documented: the shrimp excavates, the goby stands guard.
• Feed a varied meaty diet near the substrate: frozen mysis, enriched brine shrimp and small marine pellets.
• Fit a secure lid. Startled shrimp gobies jump.
• Peaceful with unrelated fish, but two males will usually fight unless the system is large.
• Best added to an established marine tank with settled chemistry and steady salinity.

A rewarding pick for a sand-bed reef where behaviour matters more than open-water swimming. It suits clownfish, small wrasses, cardinalfish and firefish, and it does not pick at corals, though its digging can dust low frags with sand. Skip tanks holding large predators or bullying triggers.

Stock rotates as new marine orders land. Local pickup at our Lethbridge store, with more marine livestock in saltwater fish.