We feature yet another deepwater Curaçao fish today, but this time it’s a goby from the monotypic genus Antilligobius. Antilligobius nikkiae is named after Dutch ‘Antillen’ referring to the region now known as Antilles or Caribbean Sea.; nikkiae: Named after Nicole Laura Schrier, the daughter of Adriaan ‘Dutch’ Schrier, owner of the Sea Aquarium in Curaçao. Despite its tiny diminutive size, A. nikkiae packs a ton of colour and a beautiful elongated dorsal fin.
Antilligobius nikkiae is also known as the sabre goby, and has a long tapering first dorsal fin. The ground colour is bone white with a transverse yellow band going equatorially across the face up to the caudal peduncle. The same yellow band pattern is observed along the second dorsal fin and the upper portion of the tail. The iris is a deep iridescent blue and the tail is doubly filamented at the central rays.
Unlike most deepwater gobies in the Atlantic, A. nikkiae lives in small groups that hover in the water column. In Curaçao, they can be found at depths up to 600 ft. A. nikkiae also ranges to Puerto Rico, where it can be found in shallower albeit still very deep waters of 300 ft. Like Lipogramma trilineatum, A. nikkiae was also imported from Dynasty Marine by Iwarna Aquafarm of Singapore. Both fish are currently residing in a deepwater style nano tank and are reported to be doing well, and have no trouble accepting aquarium fare.
