Redigobius bikolanus

(Herre, 1927)

Bug-eyed Goby (also Speckled Goby)

Species Summary

Breeding attempts with Redigobius bikolanus have shown the species to be a willing but difficult spawner in captivity: several spawnings were recorded from one pair, producing 1,000–1,500 eggs per clutch hatching in 24–30 hours at 26 °C, but no fry survived past 14 days, apparently owing to the difficulty of finding food fine enough for larvae only 1.5 mm long.

A genuine new-distribution-record was documented in the Dawson River, central Queensland — a landlocked population some 200 km inland of the Fitzroy River estuary — with Queensland Museum ichthyologist Jeff Johnson suggesting a separate Fraser Island population might represent a distinct form worth further study.

Compiled for Home of the Rainbowfish from ANGFA sources: R. Leggett, “Breeding notes on a new goby from the Jardine River”, Fishes of Sahul 6, 1990, pp. 253–254; A. Fletcher, “Redigobius bikolanus (Speckled Goby) in the Dawson River”, ANGFA Queensland Newsletter 15, 1999, p. 6.