Banded sleeper goby

The banded sleeper goby, or brown-barred goby, is a marine goby (family Gobiidae) from the Indo-Pacific, found over sandy and rubble areas near reefs. It has a pale body crossed by several brownish bars, with blue and orange speckling on the head and fins. It is a peaceful, hardy fish that spends its time sifting sand for food and excavating burrows beneath rocks. It is best kept singly or as a bonded pair, as two unpaired individuals may quarrel. A reef aquarium with a deep sand bed is important, since it constantly processes sand through its mouth to extract detritus and micro-organisms, helping to keep the substrate clean. It benefits from a mature tank with plenty of microfauna and also accepts frozen mysis and other meaty foods. It is reef-safe and useful as a sand-sifter, making it a good choice for intermediate marine keepers.