Citron gobies come in many colors from lemon to mustard yellow, brown to black, but these specimens from Quality Marine are definitely in the in-between category. Gobiodon citrinus are widespread in nature, inhabiting reefs off Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and go by many common names including Clown goby, Saffron goby, and Poison goby, after the toxic mucus they produce on their skin.
Fully grown at just two inches, Citron gobies are characterful little fish that perch within coral branches and can be bred in captivity. They are suitable for nano tanks and would be much more popular if it wasn’t for their propensity for eating the polyps of Acropora and other SPS corals. Citrons live amongst Acropora in the wild and use them to dine and spawn on, clearing an area of polyps around the base of the coral. They make interesting breeding projects and will behave similarly with fake branching corals, but there’s just no way many folks would risk them with their prized Rainbow Tenuis.
They aren’t obligate corallivores and will readily accept any small frozen or live foods, or suitably sized dry foods, and should be kept either singly or in pairs. The really lemon-yellow specimens of Citron goby aren’t seen as frequently as they once were but the pair pictured here with color aberrations did catch our eye for being different.
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