Care
The Eyespot Goby is known from lagoons and coastal bays where there is a silty substrate and plenty of cover amongst corals and reef rubble, to depths of 30m (98ft). These fish sometimes occur singly but adults are more commonly seen in pairs that share sandy burrows. These fascinating bottom dwellers are said to mimic crabs as they hop about with their two eyespot-clad dorsal fins held erect and the black pelvic and anal fins appearing like pincers underneath them. Another school of thought suggests that the lateral view of the fish mimics the face of a large, carnivorous fish, which would make much more sense as a defence mechanism. Either way, it only takes a split second for the large ocelli to confuse a predator. Eyespot Gobies are most often observed filter feeding from the fine substrate, sifting out tiny interstitial invertebrates from the sand. They should only ever be added to a well-established reef tank, where there will be plenty of live rock and live substrate that supports their natural diet. This species will spend many hours searching out the miniscule invertebrates living amongst the substrate. It absolutely must be provided with an ongoing source of natural prey and the best way to ensure a continuous supply of tiny live foods is by culturing them in an attached fishless refugium. If added to a newly set up tank, these fish will simply starve to death. There should be plenty of hiding places amongst the rockwork, with enough depth of fine substrate and small rubble pieces or shell fragments for the fish to construct a burrow. Because of the challenges in feeding Eyespot Gobies, they should not be kept with fish that require a similar food source to survive (e.g. Mandarins), as otherwise one species may out-compete the other. There should be relatively calm areas in the tank that allow the gobies to locate food successfully. Tankmates should be peaceful and of an easygoing nature so that the Eyespot Gobies do not feel harassed and subsequently stop venturing out to feed. Avoid housing with ornamental shrimp, as these are likely to become a snack. It is best to keep these fish as a known mated pair as single specimens are known to fare rather poorly in the aquarium. Two males placed together in close quarters will fight, so it is best to ensure that the fish you have are compatible (and not just two fish randomly paired up) and offer them enough space and visual barriers. A spacious tank not only provides them with enough territory, but also, very importantly, offers a much larger sandbed for feeding opportunities. This species may also be seen on sale as the Signal Goby, Twinspot Goby, Twospot Goby, or Crabeye Goby. Advanced aquarists only.
Feeding
Challenging. This species does not typically take food from the water column but instead gains the vast majority of its food by sifting the contents of large established sand beds for invertebrate life. The diet can be supplemented with small sized meaty frozen foods such as finely chopped Mysis shrimp, vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, baby brineshrimp etc plus copepods and amphipods. Ensure that food offered reaches the bottom of the tank, where the gobies will ingest it as they take in mouthfuls of substrate to sift. If food does not reach the bottom of the aquarium on a regular basis due to aggressive feeders in the same tank, the gobies are likely to become malnourished. Offer small amounts of food several times per day, target feeding if necessary. Before purchasing, please be aware that this species must be provided with natural prey (non-live foods rarely sustain them for any great length of time), and a constant supply of tiny foods for this purpose could be cultured in a fishless refugium. De-worming these fish in a quarantine tank, prior to adding to the main display would be very beneficial. They will starve to death in tanks without a mature sand bed.
Breeding
This species has not been bred in the home aquarium.
