Brachygobius
Brachygobius | |
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Bumblebee Fish (B. xanthozonus) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Gobiiformes |
Family: | Oxudercidae |
Subfamily: | Gobionellinae |
Genus: | Brachygobius Bleeker, 1874 |
Type species | |
Gobius doriae Günther, 1868
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Synonyms | |
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Brachygobius is a small genus of gobies. They are popular aquarium fish where a number of species are sold as bumblebee gobies because their colours are similar to those of bumblebees.[1]
Morphology
Bumblebee gobies range in size from 1.5 cm to 4 cm.[2] They are generally coloured black with pale yellow to orange bands.[3] Males are generally slimmer than females and often have more vivid colours, typically orange rather than yellow.[3] Females may also have smaller and rounder heads.[2] When spawning, the colours of the males become deeper, the orange bands becoming red in the case of Brachygobius doriae.[2]
Taxonomy
This genus is informally divided by taxonomists into the dwarf Brachygobius nunus-
Species
There are currently nine recognized species in this genus:[4]
- Brachygobius aggregatus Herre, 1940 (Schooling bumblebee goby)
- Brachygobius doriae (Günther, 1868) (Bumblebee goby)
- Inger, 1958 (Kabili bumblebee goby)
- Larson & Vidthayanon, 2000
- Brachygobius nunus (F. Hamilton, 1822)
- Inger, 1958
- Brachygobius sua (H. M. Smith, 1931)
- Brachygobius xanthomelas Herre, 1937
- Brachygobius xanthozonus (Bleeker, 1849) (Bumblebee fish)
Ecology
Bumblebee gobies are found across
Reproduction
These gobies are
In the aquarium
Bumblebee gobies are popular aquarium fish.[5] A tank around 40 liters in size will house a dozen specimens comfortably. Under good conditions they can live in an aquarium for around 5 years.[3] The most commonly traded species in the hobby belong to the Brachygobius doriae-species group but the smaller Brachygobius nunus is also traded occasionally.[2][3] Although many aquarium books use the name Brachygobius xanthozona, this species is very rare in the wild and is not commercially traded.[3]
References
- ^ Fenner, Robert. "Fresh to Brackish Water Gobioids". Retrieved 2007-05-21.
- ^ ISBN 3-936027-82-X
- ^ ISBN 0-7938-0564-3
- ^ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2013). Species of Brachygobius in FishBase. April 2013 version.
- ^ ISBN 3-88244-050-3