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Bob Fenner

Valenciennea strigata

Sifter/Sleeper Gobies, Genus Valenciennea: Fifteen species.

Sifter, aka Sleeper Gobies accept all kinds of foods and have proven to be quite disease resistant; their only possible downside is their prodigious digging behavior.

The orange spotted V. puellaris and blue cheek V. strigata are standard goby offerings; several other congeners are at times within reach. They're large for gobies, at half a foot, and peaceful enough for use in all types of marine set-ups.

Valenciennea helsdingenii (Bleeker 1858), the Two-Stripe  Goby. Indo-West Pacific; Red Sea and eastern Africa to the Indonesia. Grows to ten inches in length. Aquarium photo.

Bigger PIX: The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size.

Valenciennea longipinnis (Lay & Bennett 1839), the Long-Finned Goby. Eastern Indian Ocean, Western Pacific. To six inches in length. This one off of Queensland, Australia.

Valenciennea muralis (Valenciennes 1837), the Mural Goby. Indo-Pacific; Indian Ocean and tropical West Pacific. To five inches in length. Aquarium image.

Valenciennea puellaris (Tomiyama 1956), the Maiden Goby. Indo-Pacific; Red Sea to Samoa. To a little over six inches in length. The most commonly offered member of the genus. Frequently starves due to a lack of fauna in its substrate to feed on. Skinny and healthy aquarium specimens and one in the Red Sea.

Bigger PIX: The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size.

Valenciennea sexguttata (Valenciennes 1837), the Sixspot Goby. Indo-Pacific; Red Sea to Samoa. To nearly six inches in length. This couple in the Maldives, Indian Ocean in typical setting... as a pair near the rock they live under.

Valenciennea strigata (Broussonet 1782), the Blueband Goby. Indo-Pacific; east Africa to the Tuamotus. To a little over seven inches in length. Second most popular species of the genus in the aquarium interest. Aquarium and Malaysian image.

Bigger PIX: The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size.

Valenciennea wardii (Playfair 1867), Ward's or Tiger Sleeper Goby. Indo-Pacific; Indian Ocean and western tropical Pacific around reefs to 20 meter depths. To 13 cm. in  length. Below: two aquarium pix and one in N. Sulawesi.

Bigger PIX: The images in this table are linked to large (desktop size) copies. Click on "framed" images to go to the larger size.

 

Bibliography/Further Reading:

Howe, Jeffrey C. 1998. Original descriptions: Valenciennea bella. FAMA 6/98.