The Gobies, Gobiidae gobies or family , are fish that are commonly used in aquariums freshwater coming from coastal rivers, although the family of these fish includes species of tropical and subtropical waters.
In our aquariums, there are some species of goobids that have gained popularity, due to their benefits associated with aquarium maintenance: they are large cleaner fish, devouring all kinds of algae and ectoparasites of other fish.
Its size ranges from 10 centimeters for the smallest species to 50 centimeters for the largest .
The goblet family is quite curious in its morphology. Their ventral fins are joined, forming a suction cup that allows these fish to fixate on the substrate to withstand all kinds of currents.
Then we can find morphological characteristics, which are present in some species and not in others, despite being from the same family, such as the presence of a spine (in some and not in others) or prominent barbels.
Distribution and habitat
The waters where they usually live are brackish to a greater or lesser degree, since some species come directly from the sea , and others from the mouths of rivers.
It is easy to find them in shallow coastal waters , on coral reefs, but also in some rivers, near the mouth with the sea, in waters with short currents.
Their habitat temperatures range between 20º and 28º, with an alkaline pH greater than 7, and hard, slightly brackish waters.
As we have seen, the quantity and variety of the species also offers us a good diversity of ways of feeding.
They are mostly carnivorous species, feeding on small invertebrates, which they capture thanks to their ease of surprising them, because they usually blend in perfectly with the bottom they inhabit.
However, we can find species, such as the rainbow goby, that feed mainly on green algae.
Although there have been observations of the behavior and reproduction of gobies, in captivity this is very difficult to achieve.
One of the reasons is precisely the duality of these fish, which live halfway between rivers and the sea.
Some species lay their eggs in rivers, which then hatch in the sea , under totally different circumstances, difficult to reproduce in the aquarium.
This is one of the reasons why these fish mostly come from the wild and it is also one of the reasons why alarms are being launched (on some species) about the risk of becoming endangered.
Varieties of goobids
Some of the most popular gobies or gobies in aquariums are those that are easiest to keep in a freshwater aquarium.
Among the most demanded by aquarists we have:
Native to Sumatra and Indonesia, it is a fish that lives almost exclusively in the short currents of rivers, usually waterfalls or waterfalls.
Highly demanded in aquariums for their diet, based on algae of all kinds, which eliminates having to limit themselves to Loricars , to perform the task of pool cleaners .
They are fish that can be kept in a community aquarium without major problems, except by choosing the correct combinations of species.
Learn more: Rainbow Goby
The Avipa Goby or Wasp Fish, is a fish native to Southeast Asia , which can live indistinctly in fresh or brackish waters… although it likes the latter more.
Its name of Wasp Fish is due to its peculiar yellow coloration, with vertical black stripes or rings, which closely resembles wasps.
They are very small, calm fish, although in the aquarium they have a territorial behavior.
Learn more: Wasp Fish