🐠 Black Clown Goby (Gobiodon strangulatus)
A Solid Black Body With a Rounded, Clownfish-Like Face • Suction-Cup Pelvic Fins for Gripping Coral • A Rare, Coral-Obligate Nano Fish
 
📋 The Black Clown Goby has a simple but charming appearance, a solid black body and rounded, clownfish-like face, giving the "clown goby" group its common name.
It comes from a wide range across the Indo-Pacific, one of the rarer, less commonly available Gobiodon species in the aquarium trade. In the wild, it lives an obligate life within the branches of hard corals, particularly Acropora, rarely straying more than a few inches from its host colony. Every Black Clown Goby we ship is feeding well.
A fascinating natural history: clown gobies lack scales entirely and instead rely on a thick, toxic mucus coating for defence, which tastes unpleasant to potential predators. Their pelvic fins are also modified into a suction-cup-like structure that lets them grip coral branches securely against ocean currents. It's fully reef safe, peaceful, and does best when provided with a live branching coral host to perch on and feel secure; while it can survive without one, this species thrives when its natural coral-dwelling behaviour is supported. It's also a capable jumper, so a secure lid matters. It reaches up to 4cm, so a 50L tank suits it well.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Solid Black Body: A simple, distinctive clown goby
🪸 A Coral-Obligate Lifestyle: Lives almost its entire life on a single host coral in the wild
🛡️ A Toxic Defensive Mucus: No scales, relies on unpleasant-tasting mucus for protection
🦶 Suction-Cup Fins: Modified pelvic fins grip coral branches securely
🌿 Fully Reef Safe: Won't harm corals or invertebrates