Tropical reef fish
Identity card
Indo-Pacific.
From 6 to 61 metres.
6 cm.
Zooplankton: copepods and crustacean larvae.
Although it is called a fire goby, it does not belong to the goby family.
It belongs to the Microdesmidae family. It has an elongated, slender body with a large, upright dorsal fin, whereas gobies are more stocky and often have pelvic fins that are fused into a sucker.
This fire goby is often seen in open water, swimming above the substrate, whereas gobies are mainly benthic, living on the bottom.
It is found in the Indo-Pacific region: from East Africa to the Hawaiian, Marquesas and Pitcairn Islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to New Caledonia and the Austral Islands, and throughout Micronesia.
It lives above the seabed, facing the current to capture the zooplankton it feeds on (copepods, crustacean larvae).
The fire goby is characterised by its elongated, two-coloured body. The front of its body is white, while the rear is red. Its first dorsal fin is fan-shaped and moves back and forth.
It lives in pairs in the burrow they have created. A shy species, it stays close to its refuge. The eggs are laid in the burrow and guarded by the male until they hatch.
When young, several individuals may share the same burrow.
There are no specific conservation measures for this species. The degradation of coral reefs may have an impact on this species at the local level.
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