Image: Crested Oyster Goby – Cryptocentroides gobiodes – quite a looker! (image courtesy Matthew L. Wittenrich) – Male Above, Female Below
In a classic example of hobby & scientific collaboration, word broke today that the Crested Oyster Goby, Cryptocentroides gobiodes, should be added to our collective list of captive-bred marine fish. While the news was brought to us by Rising Tide, they are quick to cite the original breakthrough (before now not publicly known) at the hands of marine fish breeder Amy Drehmel back in 2011, who these days seems to hold her cards very close in revealing what she’s working on (Amy may be better known by her internet avatar Midnight Angel, and her work spawning, and attempting to rear, Ribbon Eels)! The fish used for Rising Tide’s work were the F1 offspring of Drehmal’s successful breeding.
So really, the news here is this; the crew behind the Rising Tide Initiative at the University of Florida Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory has succeeded in rearing the second generation of captive bred Crested Oyster Gobies, and they’re telling everyone how they did it.
Rising Tide, with it’s ongoing mission to further captive propagation of marine ornamentals, has fully disclosed the breeding, rearing protocols and life cycle details for the Crested Oyster Goby on their website. The best part? Rising tide relayed that, “[a] culture protocol for the species, as well as broodstock animals are currently being produced and disseminated to commercial producers. One commercial producer has already produced offspring that should be available to the trade soon. From hobby to production…in the span of three years, three generations of crested oyster gobies have been produced, fine-tuning a protocol that has been used to get this species into commercial production.”
And the latest breaking news – word just came in that FishEye Aquaculture is the unnamed commercial producer above, and the best part? FishEye just announced on their Facebook page that this species is available now. So yes, this pretty and rare goby just became a heck of a lot more available to aquarists – all thanks to the tireless work of innovative captive breeders.
