Amblyeleotris diagonalis

Polurin & Lubbock, 1979

Diagonal Shrimp Goby

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Red Sea, Madagascar, Kenya, Persian Gulf, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and south to Great Barrier Reef.

Size: 4 inches (10 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabits outer reef slopes with course sandy bottoms and usually found at depths between 20 – 130 feet (6 – 40 m) where it feeds on benthic invertebrates and zooplankton.

General Husbandry: Occasionally seen in the trade, and having a white body with five slanted wide brownish-orange bands.

Best maintained in well-established fish-only or reef aquariums with wide-open course grained (2 – 4 mm) deep sandy areas along with some small rubble.

Should not be housed with aggressive or fin-nipping fishes, such as groupers, dottybacks, triggerfishes or angelfishes, as this is a shy species that prefers to live in a burrow with its head protruding while watching for its next meal to come close enough to dart outwards and capture.

As to diet, should there not be enough naturally found live food to consume, target feeding is necessary, and if so, should be fed a diet of finely chopped fresh or frozen meaty foods, e.g., krill, marine fish flesh, mysis shrimp, shrimp, scallops, squid, and clams and be fed twice daily. Even though basically a meat eater, some algae containing foods should be included in its diet and overall, should be fed twice daily.

Small sinking enriched shrimp pellets are also an excellent way of keeping them well fed.

If difficult to get feeding, try live adult fortified brine shrimp and black worms (Lumbriculus variegatus).

Taxonomy:

Order: Perciformes

Suborder: Gobioidei

Family: Gobiidae

Genus: Amblyeleotris

FYI: May jump out of uncovered aquariums.

In the wild, lives in burrows with the shrimp Alpheus randalli.

One per aquarium unless a mated pair.

Experience Level: Beginner

Temperament: Peaceful

Diet: Carnivore

Coral Safe: Yes

Fish Safe: Yes

Invertebrate Safe: With caution

Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+

Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium

Tankmates: Peaceful

Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons

Temperature Range: 72 - 82°F (22 - 27°C)

Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026

pH: 8.0 - 8.5