My elusive beauty! Yes, once again can you help identify?

dreamweaver

Member
Close to 2 years ago my lfs sold me this lovely specimen, telling me they thought it was some type of goby... I've tried to find its' identity online, but have failed... (probably because I don't know a name - scientific or common)... and my lfs has never had any more in stock in the last 2 years...I spoke with my lfs staff a couple of weeks ago and their explanation in lieu of identification was that there are actually types of gobies that have never been named due to the fact that gobies are so numerous, so they sell under the "various goby" title.... ?????
It has a tendency to hide the majority of the time. (In fact, there have been several times when my husband and I have thought it had died because we didn't even catch a glimpse of it for months!) When able to see it in the rocks, I have noticed that it will be resting kind of upside down "clinging" to the top of the "cave" (rock) - and doesn't move for hours at a time... It is apparently very hardy - because it's one of the few fish I've had since almost the beginning of my saltwater days - and since the start, I've had several times where my tank has literally "crashed" killing almost everything.... (Funny. Now that I'm thinking about this I realize that the only 2 fish that made it through everything are this one and the other "various goby" my lfs sold to me!) The few times it has been in open view it is breath-taking! Body and fins are the whitest white and deepest black. May be small (about 2" from nose to tail), but those fins! Large, lacy edges fluttering as it elegantly swims!!!!
My pictures aren't the greatest due to camera, my lack of picture ability and the fact that you have to snap the pics fast before he goes back in to hiding... but hopefully good enough to allow for identification - even if only a guess....


 

jimvette1

Member
dreamweaver:
Looks to me its the Black Barred Convict Goby, also known as the Black Barred Circus Goby, Circus Goby, or Full Moon Reef Goby has a white body with black to brown vertical stripes.
Google it and you be the judge.
 

dreamweaver

Member
HURRAY! I think we have a winner!!!! Circus Goby!!! (aka: Full Moon Reef Goby or Black Barred Convict Goby) ...... Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!
 

srfisher17

Active Member
Tell your lfs staff that just because they don't know what it is, doesn't mean it hasn't been named. If a "new" species made it all the way through the supply chain; someone would claim discovery and have the honor of naming it.
 
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