Hybrid Cleaner Gobies Are Back

Hybrid Goby

Many years ago, ORA’s marine biologists wondered what would happen if they crossed two of ORA’s most popular Goby species: the Yellowline goby (Elacatinus figaro) and Neon goby (E. oceanops).  You can see from the photo that the results were spectacular.  These hybrids have a stripe coloration that starts off as a yellow hue near the head and transitions like a rainbow into a bright turquoise after the gills.  Their adult size is quite large,  exceeding either parent species.  These beautiful fish are very robust and grow faster than any other cleaner goby we offer leading us to believe that hybrid vigor plays a role.

In addition to being hardy, these fish make great reef aquarium additions and are best known for their propensity to clean external parasites from larger tankmates.  ORA’s Hybrid Gobies are the product of a male Yellow Line Goby and a female Neon Goby.  Creating harmonious pairs between these two species isn’t easy to achieve and compatible pairs may never produce eggs.  Although they are similar to another cleaner goby we offer, the Sharknose (E. evelynae), which has yellow in the head and blue in the body they exhibit a different head shape and their primary color is turquoise, not blue.  ORA has recently resumed production of hybrid gobies and they are now available on a limited basis.

Visit the product page here
and look for ORA Hybrid Gobies at a retailer near you.