How to Identify a Goldspot Goby Fish

Video Transcript

"The marine organism we're going to identify now is the goldspot goby. Most gobies are a pain in the but to identify. This is because they are small, quick, and most are relatively shy when a big human eye moves in close enough to really get a good look at them. But one of the easier gobies to identify is the goldspot goby. Although it is one of four or more whitish colored gobies that you'll see scampering about the sand near coral heads. It's the only one that has a dark brownish to brown-orange vertical bar that runs from the top of it's head through the eye and down to the bottom of it's head. The dashed goby has a similar bar but it's usually less distinct plus the dashed goby lacks the goldspot goby's other distinguishing characteristic, it's gold spot. The gold colored spot is surrounded by black and is found just above the pectoral fin. That's the fin where the fishes arms would be if they had arms. But the gold spot is not obvious in all individuals so the bar across the eye is the best identifier. The other feature that differentiates it from the dashed goby is that the other dark markings on it's body are irregular blotches and not the nice neat dashed line found on the side of the dashed goby. Despite this relative ease of identification you still need to get close to positively identify these fish because they're so tiny. The goldspot goby is a bit larger ranging in size from an inch and a half to two and a half with a maximum length of three inches. They have a long slender body with a mouth that is on the bottom of it's head. They're usually found in the sandy areas near coral heads close to the coral. They are found in shallow waters as well as on deep reefs, reefs as deep as a hundred and fifty to a hundred and sixty feet. They are common throughout the Bahamas, Florida, and all the Caribbean. The goldspot goby feeds on food it finds in the sand either tiny animals or other organic matter that has settled on the bottom. With their mouth on the bottom of their body they can move across the bottom easily taking sand into their mouths and expelling the sand out through their gills while retaining the tasty bits in their mouth. If you approach them slowly you can watch them slowly move across the bottom while they feed rarely venturing very far from their coral head home and even less rarely leaving the safety of the bottom where they're coloration makes them practically invisible to predators. I have found little information about the mating habits of goldspot gobies. But suspect they are like most of the other territorial gobies. They are likely to be monogamous fish meaning they mate with the same fish regularly and lay eggs on the substrate usually under a ledge with the male bearing responsibility for guarding the egg mass. Eggs hatch in a few days and the fry drift with the current until they are large enough to take up residence near their own coral head. That's the goldspot goby."