Pink Spotted Watchman Goby (Cryptocentrus leptocephalus)

The Pink Spotted Watchman Goby (Cryptocentrus leptocephalus) is a pastel bulldozer with a job to do. Cream and butter-yellow bars run the length of its body, dusted with coral-pink spots and tiny white pearls, and it spends the day propped up on its pectoral fins at the mouth of a burrow it dug itself. Like the other Cryptocentrus shrimp gobies, it can form a genuine partnership with a pistol shrimp: the nearly blind shrimp does the digging, the sharp-eyed goby stands watch, and both share the tunnel. Hardy, reef safe, and easy to feed, it makes an excellent first goby. Browse the rest of our saltwater livestock and supplies to round out the tank.

Care Guide

• Tank size: 30 gallons minimum, 55 gallons or more for a full grown adult. Floor space matters far more than height, since this fish lives on the sand.
• Substrate is the whole game: give it 2 to 3 inches of fine sand, ideally with a little rubble mixed in so tunnel walls hold their shape. On bare bottom or coarse gravel it never really settles in. CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand is the right texture.
• Seat your rockwork on the glass, never on top of the sand. This goby excavates underneath everything, and rock resting on a sand bed can shift or collapse once the digging starts.
• Pistol shrimp partner: pair it with a Tiger Pistol Shrimp and you get one of the best shows in the hobby, the shrimp bulldozing sand out the front door with one antenna resting on the goby the entire time. The goby is perfectly content on its own, so treat this as a bonus rather than a requirement.
• Water parameters: 72 to 78°F, pH 8.1 to 8.4, salinity 1.020 to 1.025, dKH 8 to 12. Forgiving once the tank is stable, but it does want mature sand with some life in it.
• Feeding: carnivore. Offer frozen mysis and brine shrimp, finely chopped meaty foods, and a sinking marine pellet such as Xtreme Marine PeeWee. Feed at least once a day, since constant digging burns real energy. Sinking foods work best; it rarely chases anything up into the water column.
• Lid required: a startled watchman goby will jump. A screen top or tight-fitting lid is not optional, especially in the first few weeks.

Specifications

Compatibility

Peaceful with almost everything that is not another sand-burrowing goby. Keep one per tank unless the aquarium is large enough for two burrows at opposite ends, and skip pairing it with the True Yellow Watchman Goby or HiFin Banded Goby in anything under about 75 gallons, since they all want the same real estate. Excellent tank mates include the Banggai Cardinalfish, Blue Green Chromis, Pajama Cardinalfish, Wyoming White Clownfish, and Bluestripe Neon Goby, none of which compete for the sand bed. Cleanup crew is fine too, including the Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp and Nassarius Snails. Corals are never nipped, but this goby kicks sand while it works, so mount frags up on rock or a frag rack rather than down on the sand bed and keep decent flow to clear the dust.

Recommended Foods & Supplies

• SFBB Mysis Shrimp frozen staple
• Xtreme Marine PeeWee Pellets slow-sinking daily food
• Ocean Nutrition Frozen Mysis Shrimp
• CaribSea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand for a proper burrowing bed
• Tiger Pistol Shrimp for the classic symbiotic pairing

FAQ

Do I have to buy a pistol shrimp?
No. The goby lives a completely normal life without one and will dig its own burrow. The pairing is just one of the most charming things you can watch in a reef tank, so most people end up wanting it eventually.

Will the two actually pair up?
Usually, though it is not instant. Add both to a tank with a deep sand bed, keep the lights and traffic calm for a few days, and they often find each other within a week or two. It is a natural behavior rather than a trained one, so occasionally a pair simply ignores each other and both do fine independently.

It vanished. Should I worry?
Almost certainly not. New watchman gobies spend their first days deep in a burrow and only edge out at feeding time. Drop some sinking food near where you last saw it and it will start appearing more each day. Do check the floor around the tank if it is missing for a long stretch, since these fish are jumpers and a lid matters.

Is it reef safe?
Yes. It has no interest in corals, clams, or ornamental shrimp. The only caution is mechanical: it moves a lot of sand, so anything sitting on the bottom can get buried. Mount frags up on the rockwork and the problem disappears.

Can I keep it with another goby?
Non-burrowing gobies like clown gobies and neon gobies are no problem at all. Other sand-dwelling watchman or sleeper gobies compete for territory, so keep those to one per tank unless you have a lot of open floor space.