Fun Green Clown Goby Facts For Kids

The green clown goby (Gobiodon histrio) is a ray finned fish that belongs to the Goby family. It is usually found in the Indo Pacific Ocean, Red Sea, Japan, Thailand, and many other areas. It inhabits hard coral colonies, especially Acropora corals.

In an aquarium, it can live in other soft and hard coral species without any hesitation. Although it is a peaceful fish, it may show aggression towards other gobies. This fish prefers shallow water in its natural habitat.

It is a beautiful fish that people love to keep in aquariums. However, it is a poisonous fish that produces toxins when disturbed.

The color of this fish is greenish blue, depending on the surrounding with orange stripes. Unlike other gobies, this fish can change its sex. There is not much information available regarding the spawning season and raising of young.

Gobies are interesting fish species, and you can learn more about them by checking out these tidewater goby facts and round goby facts.

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Green Clown Goby Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a green clown goby?

The blue spotted coral goby, also known as broad bare goby is a goby fish species found in the corals.

What class of animal does a green clown goby belong to?

The green coral goby species belongs to the class Actinopterygii in phylum Chordata.

How many green clown gobies are there in the world?

The population size of green coral gobies has not been estimated yet.

Where does a green clown goby live?

The green clown goby, Gobiodon histrio lives in the Indo Pacific Ocean, Red Sea, Western Pacific Ocean, Southern Japan, the great barrier reef, and Samoa. It is also found in Indonesia, Thailand, New Guinea, Tonga, and the Philippines. It usually prefers reefs with a depth ranges from 6.6-49.2 ft (2-15 m). The fish is available in the aquarium trade.

What is a green clown goby's habitat?

The green coral goby is a saltwater fish that inhabits living Acropora coral colonies. Although, in an aquarium, the fish accepts to live in other soft and hard coral species.

It also does not have any problem with nooks and crannies in rock in captivity. It likes the temperature of about 72-82 F (22-28 C).

The aquarium required to house a green goby must be of 30 gallons (113.5 L). Because of its tiny size, the fish has the tiniest impact on the biological load of its aquarium.

It does not need special requirements, such as filters, but it does require a good quality mechanical and biological setup. This is a peaceful fish with a good temperament, but sometimes it becomes aggressive with species of other or the same species in the same aquarium.

Therefore, it requires enough space and separate territories. They should not be kept in smaller tanks, otherwise, the goby fish can make things difficult with its poison.

Who do green clown gobies live with?

The gumdrop goby shows a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with Acropora nasuta corals. When the Chlorodesmis algae vandalize the Acropora corals, they emit a toxic compound that attracts the green goby fishes.

They eat the algae that increase their toxicity. These fish can live with other species in an aquarium but sometimes show aggressiveness towards them. Therefore, the eating habits and behavior of other species should be carefully monitored.

How long does a green clown goby live?

In captivity, the Earspot coral goby can live up to five years but usually live about one to three years.

How do they reproduce?

Earspot coral gobies are a saltwater fish species that have the ability to change their sex. This means any two random fish can change, which is not common in other gobbies.

When a pair occupies a new coral site, one of the goby changes its sex. The spawning in this species is quite often. They wrap the strings of eggs around branches of corals.

The successful rearing of these fish in a reef aquarium is rare. Raising their young is even harder than them. During breeding, males change their color and grow an extended dorsal fin.

Courtship displays involve a strange dance of males in front of females to attract them. Females lay their eggs on the corals which are instantly fertilized and guarded by the males.

The eggs of this species are diminutive, about 0.03 in (1 mm) in size. The normal clutch size is over 500 eggs.

The eggs on the corals result in a tiny tissue recession, which quickly recovers once the eggs hatch. Hatching usually takes place after four to five days after spawning. The larvae are small and need appropriately sized foods, such as rotifers, copepods, and young various shrimp species including brine shrimp, Mysis shrimp, and table shrimp.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of this goby species is of Least Concern, as they have a stable population.

Green Clown Goby Fun Facts

What do green clown gobies look like?

The Acropora goby or green warpaint clown is a flatfish that can reach a length of about 1.1-2 in (3-5 cm). There are six to seven spiny rays on the first dorsal fin, around 10 soft rays on the second dorsal fin, and only one spinal ray on the anal fin.

In this fish, the pectoral and caudal fins have a round shape.

The ventral fin is merged in the sucker of the fish. It is used on the surface so that the fish cannot get away with water currents.

The mouth has conical sharp teeth. The background color of the fish is blue to orange depending upon the environmental factors. It has orange stripes.

How cute are they?

Green clown gobies have a beautiful combination of sky blue and orange colors. They are adorable to watch.

How do they communicate?

There is no information available regarding communication in this species.

How big is a green clown goby?

The size of a green goby fish is 1.4 in (3.5 cm), which is five times smaller than a clownfish.

How fast can a green clown goby swim?

The speed of earspot coral goby is unclear.

How much does a green clown goby weigh?

The weight of a green earspot coral goby is unknown.

What are the male and female names of the species?

The male and female common musk green clown gobies have no specific names.

What would you call a baby green clown goby?

The baby clown goby is generally known as a young one or larva.

What do they eat?

Green clown gobies feed on amphipods, copepods, zooplankton, and benthic invertebrates among the hard coral colonies. In captivity, they can also eat frozen, live, freeze dried, cyclops, brine shrimp, Mysis shrimp, chopped seafood, and bloodworms. When keeping these fish in an aquarium, you have to feed them once or twice a day.

Are they poisonous?

Yes, Gobiodon histrio is a poisonous fish species. They produce a toxin to detect predators. When someone disturbs them, they release a toxin that inhibits the locomotion of the organism.

Would they make a good pet?

Yes, they are beautiful creatures. People love to keep them in aquariums. A good green clown goby care must be given by its owners to help them stay healthy in tanks. They do not get much bigger compared to other fish, which makes it easy to raise them. Also, they are non aggressive sea creatures.

Did you know...

The Acropora goby fish has a huge head as compared to its body size.

Although they might chase each other a bit, it is totally fine to keep two gobies together in a tank.

Are green clown gobies reef safe?

Yes, they are reef safe creatures, but these fish prefer to live around Acropora corals as they both show a symbiotic relationship.

Naming the green clown goby

The genus name of this fish consists of two constituents: 'gobius', which refers to the gobians, and Greek 'odus', meaning 'teeth'. The genus name 'histrio' is a Latin word that means historian or actor.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these lambchop rasbora facts and lionfish facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our Green Clown Goby coloring pages.