Orange Spotted Prawn Goby

Care Summary

The Orange Spotted Prawn Goby forms a mutualistic bond with Alpheid pistol shrimp; keep one with a paired shrimp and you will be rewarded with one of the most interesting behavioral partnerships in the reef hobby. House it in 20+ gallons with a sand bed of at least 3 inches for the shrimp to excavate a burrow; without a suitable substrate the partnership cannot function properly. Feed frozen mysis and meaty small foods twice daily near the burrow entrance; the goby acts as a lookout while the nearly blind shrimp maintains the burrow, and both benefit from food delivered close to home. A tight-fitting lid is essential; gobies jump when startled and the entrance/exit of the burrow is often right at the waterline in setups with rimless tanks or shallow sand beds.