Mike’s Fish Tank – Dragonfish

A popular fish these days is the Dragonfish or the violet goby. Violet goby, is a species of goby native to marine, fresh and brackish waters near the Atlantic coast of North and South America from South Carolina in the United States of America, to northern Brazil. It prefers bays, estuaries and river mouths with muddy substrates. Most stores sell these as non brackish fish and they seem to do ok. They are quite popular because they are really interesting fish.

The Violet goby has a long, slender, eel-like body. Its dorsal and anal fins run almost the entire length of the body. The teeth are very sharp; however these are used for scraping algae off rocks, not fighting. When kept in good condition, dragon gobies develop an attractive, iridescent, silvery-blue metallic color with a some gold spots along the side.

Violet gobies seen in pet stores are generally 3 to 5 inches long. In the wild, violet gobies can grow to 24 inches long. However, in captivity they seldom grow past 15 inches. Most of the dragonfish I get in are 6 to 8 inches. They are not an expensive fish, generally selling in the $7.99 to $9.99 range. Violet gobies have very small eyes, and as such are primarily scavengers. Their key method of obtaining food is by scooping up mouthfuls of gravel and sorting edible material from the substrate, and then spitting out the substrate and swallowing the food.

Despite its fierce looks, large mouth, and many teeth, the violet goby is a predator scavenger. If well fed, it usually will not bother smaller fish.

They are often described by Local Fish Stores as aggressive, capable of eating any fish that fits in their mouth…when, in fact, they are simply detritivores, meaning scavenging food particles from the floor of the aquarium. They often hide all day, coming out only when the lights are out and owners asleep. Definitely a cool and unusual fish for your fish tank.

Pets A Plenty is located in the Blockbuster Video Plaza, Rte 281 Cortland, 753-9213. Open 7 days a week. We now have a website. www.petsaplety.biz. check it out. I post care sheets, coupons, new animal arrivals, contests and more. Any questions, email me at friskyy@hotmail.com

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