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Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

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  • Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

    So, I went to FRII yesterday, and spotted 4 little fish in some of the bottom tanks, in the area where most of the "native" fish are, the ones they pull from the feeders (mollies, gambusia, sheepshead, etc..). I was confused - they looked like gobies but also a little like darters. I asked the guy what they were, and he told me they were a kind of etheostoma. Well, I was sold no matter what, so he bagged them up for me.

    I spent a LOT of time at home just watching them - they're so cute! But I became more and more unsure of what they are. I looked through all my books, couldn't find a darter that came anywhere near their looks. Then I noticed that one of them was almost standing up in the corner. No big deal. Then I later saw one of them halfway up the back side of the aquarium, content to just stay there. In my experience, I've never seen a darter do that, and I then noticed they had the fused ventral fins of a goby...! Don't think darters have those. So I was excited to try to pin it down....but after today, I'm just more confused.

    Can anyone help me ID these guys? I'd like to know if I need to do anything special!
    They change color/design quickly and often, so one minute they stand out and the next they've blended into the substrate. There seems to be a slight hint of red on the tops of the dorsal fins, but not quite sure.

    You can see the ventral fins pretty well in this one:


    Top view:


    When I first noticed the behavior (and please ignore the bald head from the newspaper, that was the day the Houston Chronicle did a story on what it felt like to be tasered...):


    I like this one b/c you can see one on the wall in the corner, one in the midground with the striped pattern, and the one in the foreground without the pattern (for now, at least.) :


    Striped:


    All four:


    And last, you can ALMOST see the red in the dorsal fin:


    Thanks for any help!  
    "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

  • #2
    Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

    Mudskippers?

    I have no idea but there was some locals talking about Native fish over at apc..... maybe they can help?

    700g Mini-Monster tank

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    • #3
      Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

      mudskipper
      Michael
      Clear Lake, TX

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      • #4
        Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

        What are their eyes like? Are they popped out and very close together?? If so, I would think they are mudskippers (they are at my LFS sometimes also).

        However, their face is VERY similar of my bumblebee gobies (like little fish bull-dogs)...and your fish do EXACTLY what my gobies do. They latch onto the tank and stand straight up sometimes.

        Let us know what you find out!!!
        Help support (C)atfish (A)nd (K)ool Pleco's; Houston's premier fish club
        Alexa Rae
        Co-President of CAK
        MAY THE GOD OF YOUR CHOICE BLESS YOU.

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        • #5
          Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

          yup, mudskippers. They have them at the Fish Mart on 59n/Tidwell.  They had them setup with a piece of slate kinda in the center of the tank, sitting half out of the water.  The skippers would climb up it and stay out of the water for a while then skip back down in.  REally kinda weird and I almost got some when I saw them but wanted to read more about them first (like what sort of tankmates would be best).  Haven't gotten the chance yet tho.
          The ultimate oxymoron - Narcolepsy and ADHD.
          Who says you can`t have it all??!!

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          • #6
            Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

            It doesnt look like the picture on this page



            All the pictures of mudskippers i could find all had their eyes on top of their heads.

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            • #7
              Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

              Im thinking its Gobiosoma robustum. Try searching for pictures on yahoo, it looks kinda the same.

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              • #9
                Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

                Thanks, everyone, for replying!

                Brownsnout - that's EXACTLY what I was thinking, and I've been going back and forth between the two! I spent practically all day looking around the web. But I'm not convinced, there are some differences that I've noticed. It's possible, though, that since they're in freshwater their markings are different than the photos I've seen. However, I think the gobiosoma genus is a good bet. I should have asked Fish Ranch what fish supplier they use for their feeders, but forgot. Not that it would narrow it down too much, especially if it was in South Florida or something, but oh well.

                I'm pretty sure they aren't mudskippers, but gobies are closely related, I think.

                Thanks again, I can use all the help I can get!

                They're frisky little buggers. I put a 5.5W water pump in there yesterday afternoon (and added a bit of salt), and it was almost like night and day. They've even started "showing off" to eachother, arching their backs, spreading their fins, opening their mouths, doing a little spastic dance. They're very fun to watch. I want to put some decor in there, to kind of break up the space so they don't get too aggressive (there are 2 tiny ones and 2 larger ones) but I want to learn a bit more about where they come from and what they like. At least I know they LOVE bloodworms, both frozen and freeze-dried.  :)
                "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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                • #10
                  Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

                  They look like perch - darters that are found in and around houston there some colorful ones... try under fishbase.com under the genus Etheostoma
                  Plecos:
                  L083 (Gibby)
                  L104 (Clown)
                  L147 (Peckoltia sp.)
                  L155 (A. Hystrix)
                  L310 (Red Fin Bruno)
                  LDA72 (BN)
                  LDA76 (False Zebra)
                  Rineloricaria parva (whiptail)
                  Rineloricaria lancelota

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                  • #11
                    Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

                    Already did that - don't think darters have fused ventral fins.
                    "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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                    • #12
                      Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

                      I have no idea what they are, but I keep coming back to look at their pictures. They are really interesting looking little fish, and they look like they have very interesting behaviors also. Very Cute!!

                      Ellen

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                      • #13
                        Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

                        i think its a Gobionellus shufeldti, or another type of sleeper goby.... but this is a freshwater one.
                        Plecos:
                        L083 (Gibby)
                        L104 (Clown)
                        L147 (Peckoltia sp.)
                        L155 (A. Hystrix)
                        L310 (Red Fin Bruno)
                        LDA72 (BN)
                        LDA76 (False Zebra)
                        Rineloricaria parva (whiptail)
                        Rineloricaria lancelota

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                        • #14
                          Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

                          Whatever it is u got Mzungu its really freaking CUTE!!!!!! :love:
                          i keep coming back to look at the pics

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                          • #15
                            Re: Gobies? Darters? What are these?!

                            Heehee, you two should see them in person! I say that to them all the time.  

                            I've been trying to get some of them showing off to eachother, but haven't had a good photo op yet...but it's a great excuse to watch them for long periods of time!

                            I think I'm set on G. bosc. I've been reading up on them, and even if they're not bosc, I think they're gobiosoma, and the circumstances from which they came support that. Bosc can live in complete freshwater to marine. They're an estuarine fish (a few gobiosomas are, actually) and they can handle extreme fluctuations, which makes me feel a little bit better. I've been adding salt now, a little at a time by siphoning out a bit of water and replacing it with a little bit saltier water.

                            Reading up on their habitats, it seems that they're most plentiful in oyster reefs, and some other species mentioned for those areas are fiddler crabs, so maybe I'll get to do a brackish paludarium sometime in the future!

                            But yeah, all in all, whatever they are, I love them! Thanks everyone for the ideas and replies.  :)
                            "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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