Yellow Clown Goby

[weez1959]

Does anyone here know the lifespan of a yellow clown goby?

[Ninong]

The yellow clown goby (Gobiodon okinawae) has an average lifespan of two years, plus or minus a year.

[weez1959]

YIKES! I guess this means my little pair don't have much time left!They mated and laid eggs like wabbits this last summer! I hope they make it for at least another summer...

[Ninong]

Approximately what size are they? Are they about 3cm? That would be the approximate adult size for this species. The reason I ask is because you are using a common name that is widely used to describe two different species. If I know the length, I can tell which species you have to avoid this common name confusion problem.

[weez1959]

One is 3cm and the other a tiny bit bigger, 3.25-3.5cm. I'm pretty sure they are Gobiodon okinawae. And they are almost 2y/o, not counting how old they were when I got them...

[Ninong]

One is 3cm and the other a tiny bit bigger, 3.25-3.5cm. I'm pretty sure they are Gobiodon okinawae.

Yes, they are because the other species, G. citrinus, would be twice that size by now. Thirty-six months is about the longest they usually live but some hobbyists have reported up to five years. All of the literature give them an average natural lifespan of two to three years max.

[Ninong]

I forgot to mention that the larger one is the male, for people reading this who may not know that. They're bi-directional protogynous hermaphrodites. What that means literally is that they're female first (proto=first, gynous=female). Think of a gynologist, someone who studies females. In other words, the juveniles will mature as females before going on to become male.

Any two individuals will become a mated pair, even if both individuals are already male, which is the terminal phase. That's because they're bi-directional. If you put two males in the tank, the larger of the two will remain male while the smaller male will become female. If you put two females in the tank, the larger one will become male while the smaller one remains female.

You can't do that with clownfish, which are actually protandrous hermaphrodites (males first) because they're not bi-directional. With clownfish, once a female (the terminal phase), always a female.

P.S. -- Protogynous is from the Greek, not Latin. In Latin, primus means first. Think of prime minister, primary, etc. In this hobby we come across words taken from both Greek and Latin. And sometimes scientific names will contain words from both Greek and Latin. The dwarf angelfish in the genus Centropyge have a feminine Greek word for the name of the genus but many of them have Latin words for the name of the species. For example, C. bispinosa (literally "two thorns" in Latin), C. flavissima (literally "very yellow-colored" in Latin), the dusky angelfish (C. nox), nox means "night" in Latin, C. multifasciata, literally "many bands" in Latin.