Spotted Shrimpgoby – Amblyeteotris ogasawarensis
– About 3 inches in length
Here is a funny Friday fish face. This little cutie is a Spotted Shrimpgoby (Amblyeteotris ogasawarensis), from the Raja Ampat area of Indonesia. Seriously, this fish looks like it belongs in a Dr. Seuss book, dontcha think?
There are many varieties of these shrimp gobies – so called because they live in partnership with little bulldozer shrimp. The shrimp are basically blind, and depend on the gobies to alert them of danger. The gobies rely on the shrimp to excavate the holes in the sandy/rubbly bottom, in which they cohabit, and also the lengthy tunnels that connect them. On approach, the shrimp will scurry into the hole, quickly followed by the goby. And then you will have to wait, and wait, and wait some more, for one or both to re-emerge. I have yet to get an attractive image of both the shrimp and the goby together. Skittish little b*stards… :^)
About Judy G Diver
Born and raised on the west coast of Canada, I have always felt a strong connection to the sea. But for many years, I stayed on the surface, afraid of what lurked down deep. When I was in my early 30's, with three young children (aka the P's), my husband (aka Mr G) signed us up for a SCUBA certification course, as a surprise. Although I had my fears, my stubbornness prevailed, and somehow I made it through four murky, frigid, cold water dives in Vancouver to successfully pass the course. Soon after we went diving off the west coast of Mexico, in the Sea of Cortez, where my eyes were opened to the beauty and other-worldliness of the life down under.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
I currently have well over 2000 dives under the belt, and I have been fortunate to travel and dive in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Fiji, Palau, Philippines, Galapagos, Costa Rica, Hawaii, California, Egypt, Mexico, several islands in the Caribbean, and here in British Columbia.
In addition to this blog and my personal website (Awoosh.com/Directory), which is linked at the top of the blog, my stuff has been published in a variety of magazines and websites, including a regular monthly feature for Scubadiving Magazine for several years. All links to this work can be found in this blog.
