Reef Hobbyist Magazine Q1 2008

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FIRST QUARTER 2008 | Volume 2

THE PERFECT NANO REEF FISH – Trimma Gobies

8 Things To

Consider Before Buying A Coral The Zoanthid Eating Nudibranch: a new approach

Hikari FREE sample offer inside!

AWESOME STONY

A M A Z I N G CO R A LS

CORAL SERIES

F ROM D OW N U N D E R

Marine Aquarium Expo and Mid West Frag Fest

Sponsored by RHM! Details inside

Are you attached to your corals?

You should be, because they’re not only beautiful, they’re precious. That’s why you have to give them a secure attachment too. Two Little Fishies, Inc. has the tools you need to easily secure them, because bonding with corals promotes a long-term relationship.

AquaStik™ 2oz Red Coralline and 4oz Stone Grey are underwater epoxy putty sticks that have clay-like consistency for easy attachment of coral “frags,” gorgonians, and other items where there is a mechanical connection that can be filled and secured by it, like concrete around a post.

CorAffix™ is an ethyl cyanoacrylate bonding compound with viscosity similar to honey. Use it for attaching stony corals, gorgonians, and other sessile invertebrates in natural positions on live rock. Use in combination with AquaStik™ to attach larger coral heads, or for attaching cultured coral “frags” to bases. 2oz bottle CorAffix™ Gel is an ethyl cyanoacrylate bonding compound with a thick gel consistency. It is very easy to use for attaching frags of stony corals, zoanthids, and some soft corals to plugs or bases. 20 gram tube All work on dry, damp, or wet surfaces, cure underwater, and are non-toxic to fish, plants and invertebrates.

Two Little Fishies Advanced Aquarium Solutions Two Little Fishies, Inc. 1007 Park Centre Blvd. Miami Gardens, FL 33169 U.S.A. Tel (305) 661.7742 www.twolittlefishies.com

Features

First Quarter 2008 | Volume 2

RHM Staff President

Harry Tung

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8 Things To Consider Before Buying A Coral: Richard Ross is a San Francisco Bay Area coral farmer and cuttlefish breeder. In this article, the author provides advice on choosing healthy coral. Cover and Image above by author.

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The Ponape Bird’s Nest and Triple Threat Favia Corals: Steve Tyree grows some of the rarest and most desirable corals in our hobby and has been an avid collector of rare corals for many years. In this installment, Steve shares the history of the Ponape Bird’s Nest and Triple Threat Favia Corals. Image above by author.

On The Cover

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The Zoanthid Eating Nudibranch – a new approach: Miguel Toluosa has been an avid reef aquarium hobbyist and coral collector for many years. Miguel shares a new approach to the Zoanthid Eating Nudibranch. Image above

Executive Editor

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Jim Adelberg

Art Director Tamara Sue

Graphics

Amazing Corals From Down Under: A photo essay by Jim Adelberg, Matt Juner and Mingwei Parks.

David Tran

Advertising The A-Team

Special Thanks Richard Ross Gresham Hendee

Tell us what you think: comments@rhmag.com

by author.

Copyright© 2008 Reef Hobbyist Magazine.

All rights reserved.

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THE PERFECT NANO REEF FISH – Trimma Gobies

Matt Wandell has been an avid reef aquarium hobbyist for 8 years and is an aquatic biologist at the California Academy of Sciences-Steinhart Aquarium. Matt here profiles a group of perfect nano reef fish, the Trimma Gobies. Image above by author.

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Read Reef Hobbyist Magazine online.

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CORAL Things To Consider Before Buying A Coral

Article & Images By Richard Ross

Stocking your tank is a big part of what this hobby is about. This article presents some considerations to keep in mind before bringing a coral home – especially if you have a new system or are new to the hobby. With just a little forethought, the buying experience can be fun, successful, and can support the future of the hobby.

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Is your tank ready?

It seems like a rudimentary question, but far too many reefers purchase delicate animals before their tanks are stable. We all understand the desire to fill up our tanks quickly, but the potential loss of life and money are only two of many good reasons to be patient. Deciding that your tank is ready isn’t quite as straightforward as we would like, as different tanks mature at different rates. When you decide that your tank is ready for its first few corals, proceed slowly by adding only one hardy coral and watch it for a couple of weeks before deciding to add anything else. Since stability is key to maintaining new coral in captive systems, people with well established tanks should consider the timing of any large scale maintenance activities that can affect a system’s stability, such as large water changes, replacing calcium or phosphate reactor media, or even replacing bulbs. These system changes should be completed before adding new corals whenever possible.

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Do you really want it and will it get along with its new tankmates?

Avoid impulse buys, and know that a little bit of research before a purchase can save you a lot of headaches after the fact.

It’s easy to buy a galaxia coral at the LFS because it’s pretty, but if you don’t know about the long stinging sweeper tentacles that can damage or kill other coral, you may be in for a heap of trouble once you get it home. Learning about the coral before you take it home will also help you prepare an appropriate site in your tank that will provide it with the flow, food, light and space it requires.

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The white, freshly exposed skeleton on this LPS could indicate a health problem.

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Is it wild collected?

With the amount of captive grown coral available through frag swaps, coral farmers’ markets and conscientious vendors, there are alternatives to obtaining only wild collected corals. One basic issue with wild collected corals is acclimation to captive conditions – it can take a wild coral a year or more to adapt to artificial light, flow and nutrition. Sometimes the wild coral doesn’t even survive long enough to adapt. Another issue is collection impact - wild coral collection has an impact on the wild reef itself, and even though other factors such as dredging and pollution often impact the reef more than coral collection for the hobby, collection still has impact. Some collectors are responsible and do all they can to harvest corals without damaging the reef or over harvesting.

However, there are some who don’t pay attention to such things.

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to determine if a certain coral was harvested in a sustainable fashion or not. Another less obvious consideration regarding wild collected corals is the amount of resources needed to get them from the reef to the hobbyist – the list includes Styrofoam shipping boxes, plastic bags, and jet fuel amongst others.

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Is it captive grown?

In my opinion, everyone should be doing their best to obtain captive grown corals. Let’s consider “captive grown” coral to be a coral grown in an aquarium or propagation facility from a fragment of either a wild collected coral or from another captive grown colony. Either way, a captive grown coral is not from a wild reef, and obtaining corals that are propagated in other aquaria is one of the best ways to lessen the pressure of coral collection on wild reefs. Equally as important, a captive grown coral has already been acclimated to captive conditions in regards to light, synthetic saltwater and flow.

This increases the coral’s chance of successful acclimation and long-term survival in your system.

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Is it aquacultured/ maricultured?

Generally, aquaculture refers to growing animals in controlled environments, while mariculture refers to growing animals in the ocean itself. I am putting the two concepts in one section because, sadly, common usage in the hobby has blended them together making it difficult to know the reality of a particular coral’s origin. If you can confirm that a vendor is aquaculturing coral, then you can consider those corals to be captive grown. However, many ‘aquacultured’ corals for sale in the hobby are really maricultured in the ocean from fragments of wild colonies, and are subject to all the same issues of acclimation to captive conditions as wild collected corals. Maricultured corals can be a great way to support sustainable use of wild reefs and the local communities that surround them.

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Is the vendor reputable?

If you are buying coral online, buy from a vendor that has a guarantee and that offers a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) selection. A picture of the actual coral will allow you to make a determination of its health and a guarantee will provide you some recourse if something goes wrong. Also, take some time to research feedback from online communities or your local reef club about the particular vendor – knowing that a vendor consistently receives good or bad feedback can save you time, money and heartache. If you are shopping locally, support local fish stores that have knowledgeable staff, clean systems, quarantine tanks and healthy animals. Shop for quality instead of price. Although we all want to save money, saving money on a coral that dies isn’t really a good deal in the long run. Please support a high standard of animal care with your purchasing power.

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Is it healthy?

If you are buying from a local fish store, you have the luxury of examining a coral before purchase. Since there are many different kinds of coral, you will be relying on your research to know whether that particular coral is healthy. There are some generalities to keep in mind. Look for coral with good color, polyp extension, and/or tissue inflation.

Most importantly, look for coral without tissue recession or

extremely faded colors. It is sometimes tempting to buy a coral that isn’t looking so good to try and ‘save’ it, but this often ends with a dead coral in your tank, your well intentioned purchase wasted, and a vendor that thinks it’s ok to stock unhealthy coral. Sure, some coral can be saved, but a little patience will often allow you to find a healthy specimen that will thrive in your tank right away.

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Are you prepared to deal with potential pests?

The list of possible coral pests in aquaria is daunting: acro-eating flatworms, montipora eating nudibranchs, zoanthid eating nudibranchs, zoanthid eating sea spiders, red planaria, red bugs, clam-killing snails and more. These pests are an issue both in wild collected corals and captive grown specimens, so be ready to deal with them regardless of where your new coral was grown. Whole tank treatments can be stressful at best, and ineffective or deadly at worst, so it is of great benefit to avoid introducing pests into your show tank in the first place. At bare minimum, you will want to develop a dipping regimen for newly acquired corals. In the long run you will be better off setting up a quarantine tank to hold newly acquired corals for dipping, treatment and observation. A quarantine tank can be simple and inexpensive, and has become a must for many reef hobbyists. The details of dipping regimens and quarantine tanks are outside the scope of this article, so please check online and with your local reef club for up to date and detailed information.

Old tissue recession, such as on this Blastomussa, is less of a concern.

RHM sponsored Mid West Frag Fest is coming to Rockford, Illinois May 2008 – www.midwestfragfest.com

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EVENTS Sneak Peak

Marine Aquarium Expo “MAX”

sponsored by Reef Hobbyist Magazine

Where: The Orange County Fair & Event Center — located at 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, www.ocfair.com When: Saturday, April 5th 12pm to 8pm Sunday, April 6th 10am to 6pm

Adults $10 > Seniors $5 > Children 12 and under FREE! If you attended Reef-A-Palooza earlier this year in Costa Mesa, California, you were treated to an event filled with rare livestock for sale, educational speakers, and our hobby’s most relevant vendors and equipment manufacturers. Marine Aquarium Expo, which will also take place at the Orange County Fairgrounds in April, promises not only a much larger venue (nearly 30,000 sq. ft.), but more speakers, more vendors, and more rare livestock for sale. Some of the quality vendors that will be featured at MAX include: Blue Life USA, Brightwell Aquatics, Hikari, and Reef Nutrition. With a children’s touch pool sponsored by Casco Group, Inc. and Fish Heads, Inc., informative speakers, and world class vendors, there will be something exciting for everyone. Plan ahead and save on your travels! Discounted hotel rooms and complete event information can be found on the MAX website (www.marineaquariumexpo.com).

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Enter the RHM photo contest at www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com and show off your photo skills!

STONY CORAL SERIES Part >> 5 The

Ponape Bird’s Nest and Triple

Threat Favia

Corals

Article & Images

By Steve Tyree

I

n this installment of the Awesome Stony Coral Series, I will discuss two of my favorite corals - the Ponape Pink and Green Seriatopora Bird’s Nest coral and the Triple Threat Favia coral. Although both of these corals have some absolutely incredible pigmentation patterns, their typical prices range in the lower end of the captive grown exotic scale. The mainstream exotic stony coral market does not typically expect that Bird’s Nest or Favia corals will contain exotic pigmentation patterns. While the Ponape Bird’s Nest is certainly one of the most exotically pigmented Seriatopora corals, we are starting to see a wider variety of spectacularly colored Faviid corals. The Triple Threat Favia was one of the first of these spectacular Faviids.

The Ponape Bird’s Nest Coral Bill Schroer discovered the Ponape Pink and Green Seriatopora Bird’s Nest coral while he was working as a collector in Pohnpei. Bill has been an avid collector of exotic stony corals in California and he has an incredible eye for finding unusual and exotic corals. Bill located what appeared to be an unusual bicolor Seriatopora during the summer of 2003. The coral had green branch stems and pink tips. Typically, Seriatopora corals are either pigmented solid pink, solid green, or brown.

Bill also initially suspected that this coral was a low light coral.

After experimenting with the captive requirements of this coral, we eventually verified that the coral appeared to prefer low light levels. In those conditions, the coral grows the fastest and develops the most colorful pigmentation patterns (see image A). I have now been farming the coral for over 5 years in captivity. Large and show size colonies of the Ponape Bird’s Nest can make for a spectacular sight in a captive reef. This coral also helps to demonstrate how collectors possessing captive care experience can actually be very good at finding some very exotic stony corals in the wild. Since wild stony corals were only briefly exported from Pohnpei, this particular coral is now only available to reef aquarists within the U.S. through captive farming.

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A | On closer inspection, the Ponape Bird’s Nest coral actually appears to possess more than just two pigments. Its base branch stems have a fluorescent green pigment, while its branch tips have bright pink pigments. The coral only develops this pigment pattern in low to moderate light levels. As seen in this close up image, the polyp tentacles of this coral located within the pink branch areas appear to have some bluish pigments on their tips. In the green branch areas, the tentacle tips develop a dark green pigmentation.

The Triple Threat Favia Coral One of the first Favia corals that contained a spectacular pigmentation pattern was the Triple Threat Favia imported

by Mingwei and Joleen Parks. This encrusting massive stony coral has a steel blue base coloration that is visible in-between the corals’ medium sized corallites. This blue is very bright and it is unusual for a Favia species coral to contain this pigment (see image B). The corallites themselves are pigmented with a solid bright medium red coloration. The blue and red contrast is quite spectacular. Along the outer ridges of the corallites, partial rows of green spots can also occur. This green third pigment is what gives the coral its Triple Threat Favia common name. The green pigments can develop quite extensively when a corallite is splitting or cloning a second corallite (see image C). I have been farming a seed section of this coral for just over one year. During this time, it has been determined that the coral does better in low to moderate light levels where the red, blue and green pigments seem to develop very well.

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C | This image is the other side of the Triple Threat Favia seed colony. The green pigmentation is very apparent in-between the corallites that are splitting or cloning. A solid red mouth of the coral’s polyp is also visible in the upper main corallite and appears as a small volcano-like structure located in the center of that corallite.

B | This is a seed colony of the Triple Threat Favia sp. coral maintained by the author. The bright blue pigmentation located in-between the corallites is very visible and quite spectacular around the lower corallite. This pigment appears to require at least some light to develop because the vertical side wall of the main upper corallite has only small amounts of the pigment. The third green pigment occurs in short rows of dots located along the outer edges of the inner corallite.

Both of the corals grow very well in captivity. Stony coral farmers should be growing and distributing these two corals for many years to come. The Triple Threat Favia can be harvested as single corallites if the farmer uses an appropriate cutting device (such as a dremel or thin rotary saw). The coral images of the Triple Threat Favia in this article are of a seed that grew from a single corallite section that was cut out from a small colony. This seed has developed into a dramatic looking small coral colony as new growth has spread out, and down, along the outer walls of the single corallite. The Ponape Bird’s Nest coral is a branching coral that only develops a very minor encrusting base growth. Branches can be easily cut or broken from the seed colony. Super glue gel works best when attaching the harvested branches onto a base rock or disk. If healthy and growing, this coral will eventually develop a small encrusting base over its super glue attachment point.

RHM sponsored Marine Aquarium Expo is coming to Los Angeles April 2008 – www.marineaquariumexpo.com

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Photo contest page.

TRIMMA GOBIES

THE PERFECT NANO REEF FISH

By Matt Wandell

T

Trimma Gobies

he increasing popularity of nano reef aquariums has sparked a concurrent demand for small fish whose lifestyle and size allows them to thrive in tiny tanks of 20 gallons or less. When selecting a fish for a nano aquarium, only the smallest of the small will do, and no coral reef fish are smaller than the gobies. Successful stony coral reef aquariums as small as one and two gallons are now almost commonplace among the hobbyist community, and tiny gobies that thrive in these tanks are now being collected for the aquarium trade. Among the smallest of these are the dwarf gobies of the genus Trimma. There are at least 50 species of gobies in the Trimma genus, and almost certainly many more waiting to be discovered. Only a handful of the species that occur in the Western Pacific regularly make it into the US aquarium market. Although they are common, easy to catch, and widespread in the wild, the Trimma gobies were relatively unknown and virtually unavailable for purchase in the US aquarium hobby until early 2004 when dedicated collection began in Cebu, Philippines. Since then, collection has become more widespread and at least 5 species are sporadically available for purchase.

goby in anything but a palmtop aquarium, however. Small flasher wrasses, fairy wrasses, dartfishes, damselfishes, shrimp gobies, blennies, dragonets, pygmy angels, pipefish, and other similar species that either consume very small crustaceans or algae will all get along fine with the Trimma gobies, with the caveat that the size differences are not too extreme. It is never a bad idea to add the Trimma gobies to the tank first before any other tankmates.

In general these gobies are not very secretive and will hover or rest on the substrate in plain sight as long as they do not feel threatened by larger fish. They do not require a sandy or rubble bottom and can be kept in bare bottom tanks without concern.

There are some unique tank and equipment concerns one must take into account due to their tiny size, mostly to prevent them from being sucked up. Certain types of propeller (rather than impeller) driven powerheads with large intake strainer holes may be an issue, as well as high flow overflow chambers. The Trimma gobies are adept swimmers but can be sucked up and possibly injured or even killed by such hazards. Ideally, the overflow area would be screened off and have a very wide surface area or reduced flow to reduce the intake water velocity.

The maximum size for most species is just over one inch! Such a tiny size precludes these gobies from the typical large reef aquarium filled with larger fishes. Anthias, basslets, cardinalfishes, wrasses, and even tangs will chase down and consume these fish, whether they are normally fish predators or not. Large boxer shrimp, hermit crabs, and sea anemones are likewise to be avoided in tanks with these gobies. This does not mean that you can’t keep a Trimma

Once these unique considerations are taken care of, these endearing fishes make wonderful additions to a peaceful community tank. They are hardy and disease resistant and will readily acclimate to an aquarium. Feeding them is simple enough, although it should be done frequently. Trimma gobies may need to be fed small live crustaceans for the first few weeks until they learn to eat flake or frozen food. Live enriched, or newly hatched brine shrimp make an ideal food for Trimma gobies. Ideally, one would drip in a small supply of baby brine shrimp to the tank during daylight hours, or at least feed the fish several times a day. There are several types of small live and frozen whole marine copepods available through local aquarium stores, and all will make fine food for Trimma gobies. There is, of course, the option of feeding these fish the way nature intended, and a large attached refugium and/or area devoted to culturing copepods and mysid shrimp within the tank will aid in this goal. Once established, these fish are not shy about eating flake food, biting off chunks of frozen mysis shrimp, and inspecting just about anything that floats by that might be considered food. The only challenge is to feed them

T. tevegae

(Continued on page 18...)

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RHM sponsored Mid West Frag Fest is coming to Rockford, Illinois May 2008 – www.midwestfragfest.com

Looking for a reef club in your area? Search online at www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com today!

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PEST CONTROL

The Zoanthid Eating Nudibranch: a new approach

Article & Images By Miguel Toluosa

O

ne of the most difficult pests to fully eradicate in our reef systems is the zoanthid eating nudibranch.

With their uncanny ability to hitchhike into the tank on nearly any coral colony, and to grow to plague proportions at record speed, they have fully established their reputation as a pest that cannot be taken lightly. Over the years, several methods for treating coral infested with these pests have emerged, from freshwater iodine dips to manual removal, but all seemed extremely stressful to the zoanthid colonies as well.

Each container held two cups of water from the tank. I added 4 drops of Salifert’s FWE into one container. Nothing was added into the second container (control group) in order to monitor the effects of the FWE versus nothing at all.

I had initially set out to remove another pest: a large mass of flatworms that were on a colony of zoanthids. The red flatworms had reproduced to the point that they were completely choking out the zoanthids, and the colony had been closed for nearly a week. I placed 8 drops of Salifert’s Flatworm Exit (FWE), an excellent flatworm treatment medication, into 3 gallons of tank water in a bucket.

In 30 seconds, one of the nudibranchs in the test cup was falling from the side of the cup.

After dipping the zoanthids for 10 minutes, I removed the colony from the bucket and noted that all of the flatworms were dead at the bottom. Much more interesting however, was that I noticed a few zoanthid eating nudibranchs were also at the bottom of the bucket. Whether they were alive or dead was hard to tell, but they had certainly been removed from the colony. Immediately curious, I collected some nudibranchs from a colony of zoanthids that was still acclimating, and waiting to be dipped in iodine and freshwater for nudibranch removal.

The nudibranchs were placed in two containers – one containing the test group and the other containing the control group.

I had initially created a control group because I expected that this experiment would run its course over several hours, possibly days, and that it may or may not work. I had no idea how amazing the results would be, or how quickly I would receive them.

45 seconds

The results were fast, effective, and much, much less stressful for the zoanthid colony than the freshwater iodine dip.

The control group showed no ill effects during this time.

Obviously, the control group was not going to be “released back into the wild,” so I attempted to repeat the experiment by adding 4 drops of FWE since they were in better locations for pictures. In 30 seconds, stress sets in: 30 seconds:

Test group:

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60 seconds

45 seconds:

60 seconds

Lesions appear on the side of the nudibranch.

Lesions spread.

control group:

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80 seconds:

One of the nudibranch appendages falls off.

90 seconds:

Nudibranch is falling to pieces.

2 minutes

This photo shows all that’s left of the nudibranch.

This treatment certainly seems to work wonders against zoanthid eating nudibranchs. In fact, Salifert’s FWE seemed to be completely safe for zoanthid colonies. It is the only treatment I’ve discovered for zoanthids that not only has a 100% death rate for the nudibranch, but will also leave the zoanthids unaffected.

FWE is also reef safe! This means that if you have an infestation in your entire tank, you can now treat with a heavy dose of FWE and get all of the nudibranchs, then re-treat every week for three weeks to deal with the newly hatched eggs. Finally, a new treatment which seems safe, effective, and extremely easy for ridding your system of the zoanthid eating nudibranch.

It is important to exercise extra caution since 4 drops per 2-4 cups is nearly 4 times the recommended dosage. It is much easier (and much cheaper) to carry out the treatment in a

bucket than in an entire system. Since this dipping system works with your regular tank water, you can leave the colonies in the bucket for nearly 30 minutes to several hours with no ill effects. They can then be placed into a bucket of clean tank water for 10-30 minutes to remove any remaining FWE that may still be on the colony. Then, the colony can be placed back into the tank or quarantine system.

This method is also highly recommended for new colonies being introduced into your tank to avoid any future infestations.

After being dipped in FWE, the colonies should be closely inspected for nudibranch eggs, which are not affected by FWE. The eggs appear as a thin strand of very bright white eggs approximately 1⁄4” thin, and are not hard to find. Remove them with a pair of tweezers, give the colony a good shake in the bucket water to clear any residue of the eggs, and place the colony into quarantine. If you do not have a quarantine system, you may want to consider one to avoid any future pest introductions. Alternatively, the colony can be placed into your main system as long as it is very carefully monitored for a few days.

I hope that this approach can help you as much as it has me, and that you can appreciate the beauty of your zoanthids without letting them ever become food again!

If your local fish store doesn’t give away RHM already, ask them to contact our distributors on the table of contents!

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AMAZING CORALS FROM DOWN UNDER A Photo Essay

by Jim Adelberg, Matt Juner and Mingwei Parks

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Enter the RHM photo contest at www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com and show off your photo skills!

sponsored Mid Westof Frag FestVisit is coming to Rockford, Illinois May 2008 – www.midwestfragfest.com Want yourRHM LFS to carry free copies RHM? us at www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com and email us your LFS’s information!

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NEW PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

(Continued from page 12... Trimma Gobies)

often enough. Inspect the fish on a regular basis to see that they are thick around the midsection and do not have concave or “pinched” stomachs.

Same or mixed species groups of these fish can easily be maintained in modest sized tanks, although all members of the group should be added at the same time. The most common species available are T. rubromaculatus, T. cana, T. macrophthalma, and T. striata.

T. rubromaculatus is perhaps the most commonly available, and sports an irregular pattern of red blotches or polka dots with a white stripe that runs from the nose along the lateral line. T. cana is often called the “Barber Pole” goby with good reason - it has 8 red vertical stripes on a white background. T. macrophthalma and T. striata may sometimes be sold as “Trimma sp.” or as an “unidentified goby”. Both are generally bright red overall, while T. striata has several radiating dark red stripes on the face and head.

The drawback of all the aforementioned species is that they tend to be rather pugnacious with other Trimma gobies. A 10 or 20gallon tank is suitable for a group of 5-6 of these gobies, but they may initially fight with each other. There are several uncommon species of Trimma, which form small schools that hover in the water column rather than rest on the substrate. Only one of these, T. tevegae (also known as T. caudomaculatum), is available in the aquarium hobby as of this writing, though infrequently. T. tevegaes

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commonly called the “Blue Stripe Cave Goby” or “Tail Spot Goby”, because it sports three bright blue stripes that run through the eyes and down the back and terminate in a bright purple spot in front of the tail. It is unlikely to be confused with any other Trimma goby. T. tevegae is less likely to fight with members of its own species and will form small schools in captivity. In at least one Trimma species (T. okinawae) studied, sex change has been shown to occur in both directions, meaning that any grouping of gobies of the same species, placed together, may potentially co-exist and reproduce.

Eggs are laid on the roof of small caves and guarded over by the parents. To my knowledge there have not been any successful rearings of Trimma goby larvae in captivity.

T. tevegae

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