
Seychelles Shrimpgoby
Ctenogobiops crocineus
- Usual depth2–23 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsJanuary, April, and November
- How commonRare
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
Loading the map
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
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos

(c) Micha Baum, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Micha Baum, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) jeyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Melissa Meadows, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Piotr Lukasik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
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
Common gobyPomatoschistus microps
Black-chest Shrimp-gobyAmblyeleotris guttata
Steinitz' gobyAmblyeleotris steinitzi
Barred ShrimpgobyAmblyeleotris wheeleri
Banded GobyAmblygobius phalaena
Bluespotted GobyAsterropteryx semipunctata
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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