''Amblyeleotris periophthalma'', the broad-banded shrimp goby or the periophthalma shrimp goby, is a
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
* ...
benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...
species of
goby native to
reef environments of the Indo-West Pacific,
Red Sea included.
Description
''A. periophthalma'' is a small
fish which can be up to . Its body is lengthened and cylindrical. The background coloration is whitish and banded with large brown stripes whose color intensity varies from an individual to another. A multitude of small brownish dots are distributed mainly on the superior part of the body. Eyes are round and prominent. The mouth is big and in the shape of an inverted "U".
[Lieske & Myers.''Coral reef fishes''. Princeton Univ Pr,2005..]
Habitat
''A. periophthalma'' can be found on sandy substrates in
lagoons or on external
reef slopes at depths of from , though mostly between .
[
]
Behaviour
''A. periophthalma'' lives in symbiosis
Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...
with alpheid
Alpheidae is a family of caridean snapping shrimp, characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a loud snapping sound. Other common names for animals in the group are pistol shrimp or alpheid ...
shrimps in burrows. The shrimps dig and maintain the burrows which are the dens for both animals. The goby is like a watchman that warns in case of potential danger which benefits the shrimp because it has poor vision.[
]
Feeding
''A. periophthalma'' has a carnivorous
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...
diet and usually eats small crustaceans or small fishes passing close to its burrow
An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of sh ...
.
References
External links
WoRMS entry
Photograph
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1898588
Gobiidae
periophthalma
Fish of Palau
Fish described in 1853