Emerald Cling Goby

Interesting Info

• The Emerald Cling Goby lives in the Wet Tropics south of Cairns, where it inhabits short, steep coastal creeks at 40–200 m elevation.
• Outside of Australia, the species is also found in Papua New Guinea, West Papua (Indonesia), and the Solomon Islands.
• The Emerald Cling Goby is one of Australia’s smallest freshwater fishes, with adults reaching only 2–2.3 cm in length.
• Males in Australia are brilliantly coloured, showing ruby-red bodies with blue-green heads, while females are much smaller and almost transparent.
• This species has pelvic fins fused into a suction disc, which allows it to cling to rocks in fast-flowing rainforest streams.
• The Emerald Cling Goby is amphidromous, meaning it spawns in freshwater but its larvae drift out to sea before returning as juveniles to migrate upstream.
• Their diet consists of algae and biofilm scraped from rocks, and by grazing they help keep streambeds clean and healthy.
• The Emerald Cling Goby is amphidromous, meaning it spawns in freshwater but its larvae drift out to sea before returning as juveniles to migrate upstream.
• Breeding takes place in the wet season, when males clean flat stones, guard egg clutches laid by females, and fan the eggs until they hatch.
• Once the larvae hatch, they are carried downstream by strong wet-season flows and swept out to sea, where they live in the plankton for several months before returning as juveniles to climb back into freshwater streams.
• Like most Stiphodon gobies, the Emerald Cling Goby lives only about 1–2 years in the wild.