Small Brown Mystery Gobies of Dauin
Below is one of the several brownish mystery gobies I see in Dauin. The fish was living about 18 meters deep, in an area of mixed sand substrate, algal slime, and occasional rocks covered in algae, hydroids, sponges and small anemones.
This fish most likely belongs to the species Drombus triangularis, or at least Drombus sp. It’s not easy to ID these small, rare, mostly brown and blotchy goby species. Details like the sensory pores on the fish’s head, the exact number of scales, and subtleties about the dark blotches decide which species the fish belongs to.
The fish is likely a shrimp goby, according to the usually well informed folks at Wild Singapore. Shrimp gobies are of course a special class of gobies which live in a mutualistic symbiosis with alpheid shrimp, sharing a burrow. You can find a lot of information
Another Goby
Another small brown goby species seen in the sand in Dauin. While I am not completely certain if the above fish is Drombus sp., I am admittedly lost with this one.
