Ornate goby

Istigobius ornatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–4 m
Water temperature23–30 °C
Best monthsMay, July, and September
How commonOccasional

All species

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

About this species

Istigobius ornatus, the Ornate goby, is a species of gobies found in the Indo-Pacific.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Istigobius ornatus”, 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: 111 records
February: 111 records
March: 113 records
April: 102 records
May: 137 records
June: 85 records
July: 126 records
August: 115 records
September: 116 records
October: 112 records
November: 107 records
December: 80 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–4 m · Deepest record: 135 m

0–10 m: 163 records
10–20 m: 5 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 20 records
26–28 °C: 124 records
28–30 °C: 152 records

Photos

(c) Alexander Regio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Michael Bakker Paiva, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) naturalist132890, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Ornate goby, ornate goby, Ornate Sand-goby, Ornate Sand Goby

Names in 4 more languages

French: Gobie de sable orné
Japanese: Kazarihaze, カザリハゼ
Thai: ปลาบู่ทราย, ปลาบู่พู่
Simplified Chinese: 妝飾銜鰕虎魚, 飾妝銜鰕虎, 飾妝銜鰕虎魚

Other scientific names: Acentrogobius ornatus, Ctenogobius calderae, Gobius calderae, Gobius ehrenbergii, Gobius elegans, Gobius interstinctus, Gobius ornatus, Gobius periophthalmoides, Gobius stephensoni, Gobius thurstoni, Gobius ventralis, Gobius venustulus, Istigobius elegans, Istigobius stephensoni, Rhinogobius calderae, Sicyopterus maritimus

Similar species

Decorated goby
Istigobius decoratus
Brown-speckled Sand-goby
Istigobius rigilius
Black-spotted Goby
Istigobius nigroocellatus
Common goby
Pomatoschistus microps
Black-chest Shrimp-goby
Amblyeleotris guttata
Steinitz' goby
Amblyeleotris steinitzi

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).
833 open-data records from 1830 to 2016.
Species data updated October 30, 2026.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist