Glass perches and glass catfish are well known and common aquarium fish. But do you know glass gobies, too? The members of the genus Gobiopterus (there are so far 9 known species) are tiny freshwater gobies. They reach only 2-3 cm length and are so transparent that the observer can see how a food item wanders from the mouth to the inevitable end.
Currently we were able to import Gobiopterus chuno from Bengal. This glass goby is a schooling fish and lives – in contrast to most other species of goby – free swimming in the water column. The behaviour of that fish is best comparable with that of the Cardinal tetra. Often the fish stand in the water, twitching with the fins; and then they swim around in schools again.
These gobies feed on live and frozen food. It is the easiest thing to feed them with Artemia nauplii, which are taken readily. Gobiopterus can also be found in brackish water. So it is possible to add a spoonful of seasalt per 10 litres of water. This makes the Artemia live longer.
In nature, these tiny gobies reproduce the whole year through. The genital papillae of males and females look different, moreover the eggs in ripe females can be observed in the belly. By the way: the red spot behind the swimming bladder is the liver. It contains so much blood that it looks red due to the erythrocytes.
For our customers: the fish have code 418133 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply to the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Gobiopterus: ancient Greek, means “goby with wings”. chuno: after the vernacular name of the species in Bengal.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
| Angaben zum Tier | |
|---|---|
| Herkunft | Indien / India |
| Verfügbare Größe in cm | 2-3 |
