Nemateleotris magnifica

Fire Goby ( Nemateleotris magnifica)

The Fire Goby ( Nemateleotris magnifica) is a type of Pfeilgrundeln ( Ptereleotridae ). She lives in the tropical Indo-Pacific from East Africa to the Ryukyu Islands, Micronesia, Hawaii, on the Great Barrier Reef, east to Pitcairn and south to New Caledonia, at depths of 6 to 90 meters on the upper portions of the outer reefs.

The fish are nine inches long and have an elongated body with a long two-part dorsal fin and a long anal fin. The anterior rays of the first dorsal fin is much longer than in the other two Nemateleotris species in the Fire Goby. This crescent-shaped fins part the animals move twitching back and forth.

Fins formula: Dorsal 1 VI, dorsal 2 I/28-32, Anal I/27-30.

Fire Schwertgrundeln live in pairs and are monogamous. Mostly they are a few feet above the ground in the flow and catching their zooplankton food. In case of danger, the animals move quickly back to a cave that can be used by several animals.

Like the other two members of the genus Nemateleotris is captured for the purpose of aquarium maintenance the Fire Goby. In the aquarium, the fish are shy and should not be kept together with lively larger fish. From a larger group after some time, only one pair is left. Fire Schwertgrundeln are short-lived and only two to three years old.