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Seychelles Shrimpgoby

Ctenogobiops crocineus

  • Fish
  • IUCN: Least concern
  • Usual depth2–23 m
  • Water temperature24–30 °C
  • Best monthsJanuary, April, and November
  • How commonRare
All species

Photo credit: (c) jeyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Ctenogobiops tangaroai, the silver-spotted shrimp-goby, is a species of bony fish of the family Gobiidae, native to the reefs which is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean through northern Australia and Taiwan, southern Japan and Fiji. It occurs in fine-grained sand patches at depths of from 4 to 40 metres where it is commensal with alpheid shrimps, with a fish and shrimp sharing a burrow. This species can reach a length of 6 centimetres (2.4 in) TL. It can also be found in the aquarium trade. It is pale in colour marked with four rows of brown spots or dashes along its flanks, three diagonal rows of short, dark stripes on the posterior of its head with larger dark spots on the lower flanks which are frequently surrounded by smaller blue spots and there is a small white stripe above the pectoral fin base with a longer white streak on the pectoral fin. It is the type species of the genus Ctenogobiops.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Ctenogobiops crocineus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

  • January: 21 records
  • February: 5 records
  • March: 20 records
  • April: 29 records
  • May: 19 records
  • June: 10 records
  • July: 4 records
  • August: 17 records
  • September: 14 records
  • October: 20 records
  • November: 27 records
  • December: 17 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–23 m · Deepest record: 23 m

  • 0–10 m: 12 records
  • 10–20 m: 4 records
  • 20–30 m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

  • 24–26 °C: 7 records
  • 26–28 °C: 11 records
  • 28–30 °C: 27 records

Names and classification

English
Seychelles Shrimpgoby, Silverspot Shrimpgoby
Names in 3 more languages
German
Rotmeer-Partnergrundel
Japanese
ホホスジシノビハゼ
Simplified Chinese
褐斑櫛眼鰕虎, 西昔爾櫛鰕虎

Other scientific names: Ctenogobius crocineus, Rhinogobius crocineus

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

  • Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
  • Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
  • Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
  • 149 open-data records from 1959 to 2005.
  • Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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