#sleeper goby

[pochqmqri]

Snakehead gudgeon at the Cairns Aquarium in Cairns, QLD, Australia

[drhoz]

#2913 - Gobiomorphus australis - Striped Gudgeon

Another Sleeper Goby endemic to Eastern Australia. Found in wide variety of habitats from muddy stillwaters to clear streams with rapid currents. Juveniles are common in estuaries near rocks, submerged logs and among vegetation.

Good climbers, able to clamber over wet rocky surfaces such as rapids, waterfalls, or artificial weirs. As with the Empire Gudgeon, males stand gaurd over the eggs until they hatch.

Sydney, New South Wales.

[drhoz]

#2912 - Hypseleotris compressa - Empire Gudgeon

A friend of mine back in Sydney has been investigating what native fish live in the stormwater drains around the inner suburbs - one of those species is the Empire Gudgeon, which is an impressive name for a very ordinary-looking fish. That's because it's a bit stressed from being put in the tank. A day later he's back to this -

Unrelated to the Eurasian freshwater cyprinid Gobio gobio, which despite the binomial isn't a goby but is a gudgeon.

Hypseleotris compressa is one of the Sleeper Gobies of the family Eleotridae, a family most diverse in the Indo-Pacific tropics. They range in size from the bigmouth sleeper (Gobiomorus dormitor) of freshwater habitats in the West Atlantic, which is up to 90 cm long, to the Amazonian Leptophilypnion which are under a centimeter. Some Sleeper Gobies are important predators on islands like New Zealand and Hawaii, that lack the predatory fish families of nearby continents.

The bright colours are donned in breeding season - the male will stand gaurd over the 3000-odd eggs glued to plants, substrate, or various garbage, and the fry develop down in the estuary. Surprisingly tolerant of pollution and salinity.

Sydney, New South Wales.

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Crazy Fish / Crocodile Fish

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Striped Sleeper Goby (Dormitator maculatus)

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Marbled Goby (Oxyeleotris marmoratus)

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[thenativetank]

Five more minutes please: Sleeper Gobies (Family Eleotridae)

Mellow predators, Sleeper Gobies often seem like they prefer lazing about to hunting (hence their “Sleeper” moniker). They are interesting fish which can make lovely tank inhabitants, assuming of course you don’t keep them with much smaller fish. They may not be the most active, but they will win out eventually!

Species

Eleotridae is one of the nine Families under the Suborder Goioidei, which also includes Gobies (Family Gobiidae). Eleotridae contains 182 species over 35 genera, of which 8 are native to the continental United States:

Dormitator latifrons (Pacific fat Sleeper)

Dormitator maculatus (Striped Sleeper) [pictured]

Eleotris amblyopsis (Large-Scaled Spinycheek Sleeper)

Eleotris picta (Spotted Sleeper)

Eleotris pisonis (Spinycheek Sleeper)

Erotelis smaragdus (Emerald Sleeper)

Gobiomorus dormitor (Bigmouth Sleeper)

Guavina guavina (Guavina)

Of these species, the Striped Sleeper is probably the most commonly sold in fish stores. A few other species do find their way into the trade from time to time, including the Spotted Sleeper.

Conservation Status

The Pacific Fat Sleeper and the Spotted Sleeper are both considered stable and of Least Concern by the IUCN. The Sandwich Island Sleeper was determined to be Data Deficient and all other species have not been evaluated.

Distribution

Only one species, the Pacific Fat Sleeper, is found on the West Coast of the US, and only in Palos Verdes, California. It is also found in the Gulf of California and along the coast of Mexico, though. All the other species are found on the eastern coast of the US.

Description

Sleeper Goby size varies based on species. The largest, the Striped Sleeper and the Bigmouth Sleeper, both reach about 2 feet (though most Striped Sleepers average 12 inches) and the smallest, the Large-Scaled Spinycheek Sleeper, only reaches 3 inches. The other species are typically around 11-15 inches in length.

Sleeper Gobies are not terribly active fish and are generally happy loafing about unless feeding or hunting smaller fish. They can be territorial with their own kind, though they are pretty easily kept with other species of fish around the same size. Much smaller fish (such as the Poeciliid livebearers) are too likely to be eaten. Also, avoid keeping them with very aggressive fish such as Snappers or nippy fish like Puffers because Sleepers are slow moving targets.

They spend much of the day loafing about and sand or rounded gravel is likely appreciated. They may also lurk behind ornaments and in caves. Besides this hunting behavior, they are less shy and more “open” than most Gobies.

Feeding

Sleeper Gobies are predators and need meaty foods to stay healthy. They should accept frozen food fairly quickly, with a mix of squid, mussels, cockles, krill, filets of salt water fish, and other such foods being a good variety. Live invertebrates like earthworms and feeder shrimps are fine occasionally as well. Sleeper Gobies may eventually accept dried foods, especially high quality pellets like Spectrum.

Water Quality

Being brackish fish, these Sleeper Gobies need hard, alkaline water for long term health. Values upwards of 15 dH hardness and pH 7.5 are perfect. Most species of native Sleeper Gobies are tropical and require temperatures around 74-80 F. The Pacific Fat Sleeper is subtropical and does best in unheated aquariums, from about 65-68 F.

Brackish Suitability

The Family Eleotridae is well known for containing many species which are Brackish-tolerant fish. While Eleotridae in general tends more towards Freshwater with a tolerance for salt, most of the species native to the US are Marine fish that sometimes travel into brackish (and freshwater) systems. For these fish, keeping anywhere between 1.010 and 1.025 should be fine for long term keeping.

The exception is the Spotted Sleeper, which is not found in fully marine water. I fact, it really only inhabits low end brackish conditions. Likely around 1.003 is enough salinity.

Tank Size

For the largest species of Sleepers (Striped Sleeper and the Bigmouth Sleeper), you may need a tank upwards of 150 gallons if they start approaching maximum size. For the species that get to about a foot long, then 75-100 gallons would make a reasonable community tank. The relatively small Large-Scaled Spinycheek Sleeper would be fine in a 20 gallon “long” tank.

Breeding

Sleeper Gobies have been bred in the home aquarium. In the case of the Striped Sleeper, the male and female clear an egg-laying site, typically a rock or another solid object, and attach eggs to it. At 76 F, the eggs hatched in about 24 hours. At this point, the adults should be removed as the parental care stops after hatching. The young should be fed infusoria and other such tiny foods.

Final Thoughts

Though not active, and not exactly the most community friendly fish, Sleeper Gobies are still lovely additions to the native marine community. Yes, they are better kept in brackish conditions, but there are very few brackish native fish that can tolerate half strength sea water and are big enough not to be eaten.

Sources

Fish Identification, Fishbase

Eleotris Picta, Tropical Fish Forums

Sleeper Gobies (family Eleotridae), Neale Monks

Dormitator maculatus, The Aquarium Wiki

FAQs on Fresh/Brackish/Marine Sleeper Gobies, Wetwebmedia

Dormitator maculatus, Aqua World

FAQs on Fresh/Brackish/Marine Sleeper Gobies, Wetwebmedia

Our Native Fishes, John R. Quinn

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Empire Gudgeon - Hypseleotris compressa

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