Brachygobius nunus
Encyclopedia
Brachygobius nunus is a species
of bumblebee goby
, a small genus
of gobies
that takes its common name from their round bodies, big heads, and their overall yellow to golden coloration interrupted by four brown to black vertical stripes reminiscent of the striped pattern of a bumblebee
. They have also been figuratively described as "buzzing" from one surface to another inside the aquarium
. Like other members of its genus, it is popular as an aquarium fish
.
that they use to attach to surfaces in nature and even to glass inside an aquarium. This particular species can be identified by the one spine and seven rays that characterize its anal fin.
. Its natural habitat is saltwater
swamp
s and stream
estuaries in Borneo
, India
, Indonesia
, Malaysia, Myanmar
, Singapore
, and Thailand
.
aquarium, brackish conditions (with at least two teaspoons of sea salt
mix per gallon of water) are recommended. Live or frozen brine shrimp
, daphnia
and whiteworms are optimal foods. While they might take flake food if hungry enough, a diet of dried prepared foods only is not recommended.
Breeding
this species in captivity is facilitated by housing them in a relatively small enclosure well-decorated with little "caves" such as snail
shell
s in which they can breed. One source says that placing a dozen juveniles B. nunus together in a 10 gallons (37.9 l) aquarium is a good way of successfully matching pairs for breeding. This same sources recommends large and frequent water changes, an increase in salinity
( from 2 tsp/gallon up to 1 tbsp/gallon), and "spoil(ing) them with live food" rather than frozen food as effective means to coax captive B. nunus into breeding.
Newly emerged B. nunus fry are tiny and should be isolated from adults so they are not cannibalized
. A five gallon tank is big enough for them. The fry are very sensitive to water quality and changes in temperature or salinity so it is recommended to fill their new tank with water from their original tank and then maintain the water quality rigorously. Newly fry can be fed vinegar eels or commercially-prepared liquid fry food but are big enough to devour newly hatched brine shrimp within a few days.
species are informally divided by taxonomists into two species groups. The dwarf "Brachygobius nunus species group" contains Brachygobius nunus, Brachygobius aggregatus, and Brachygobius mekongensis while the "Brachygobius doriae species group" contains the bigger species of Brachygobius doriae, Brachygobius sabanus, and Brachygobius xanthomelas.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of bumblebee goby
Brachygobius
Brachygobius is a small genus of gobies. They are popular aquarium fish where a number of species are sold as bumblebee gobies because their colours are similar to those of bumblebees.-Morphology:...
, a small genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of gobies
Goby
The gobies form the family Gobiidae, which is one of the largest families of fish, with more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most are relatively small, typically less than 10 cm in length...
that takes its common name from their round bodies, big heads, and their overall yellow to golden coloration interrupted by four brown to black vertical stripes reminiscent of the striped pattern of a bumblebee
Bumblebee
A bumble bee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. There are over 250 known species, existing primarily in the Northern Hemisphere although they are common in New Zealand and in the Australian state of Tasmania.Bumble bees are social insects that are characterised by black...
. They have also been figuratively described as "buzzing" from one surface to another inside the aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
. Like other members of its genus, it is popular as an aquarium fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
.
Description
B. nunus is usually less than 4 cm in length. As in all true Gobiidae, the ventral fins of Brachygobius nunus have fused into a suction cupSuction cup
A suction cup, also sometimes known as a sucker is an object that uses negative fluid pressure of air or water to adhere to nonporous surfaces. They exist both as artificially created devices, and as anatomical traits of some animals such as octopi and squid.The working face of the suction cup has...
that they use to attach to surfaces in nature and even to glass inside an aquarium. This particular species can be identified by the one spine and seven rays that characterize its anal fin.
Range
As with other Bumblebee gobies, B. nunus is native to AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Its natural habitat is saltwater
Brackish water
Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...
swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s and stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
estuaries in Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Captivity
While B. nunus can often survive in a freshwaterFreshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
aquarium, brackish conditions (with at least two teaspoons of sea salt
Sea salt
Sea salt, salt obtained by the evaporation of seawater, is used in cooking and cosmetics. It is historically called bay salt or solar salt...
mix per gallon of water) are recommended. Live or frozen brine shrimp
Brine shrimp
Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans known as brine shrimp. Artemia, the only genus in the family Artemiidae, has changed little externally since the Triassic period...
, daphnia
Daphnia
Daphnia are small, planktonic crustaceans, between 0.2 and 5 mm in length. Daphnia are members of the order Cladocera, and are one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas because of their saltatory swimming style...
and whiteworms are optimal foods. While they might take flake food if hungry enough, a diet of dried prepared foods only is not recommended.
Breeding
Captive breeding
Captive breedingis the process of breeding animals in human controlled environments with restricted settings, such as wildlife reserves, zoos and other conservation facilities; sometimes the process is construed to include release of individual organisms to the wild, when there is sufficient...
this species in captivity is facilitated by housing them in a relatively small enclosure well-decorated with little "caves" such as snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
shell
Gastropod shell
The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...
s in which they can breed. One source says that placing a dozen juveniles B. nunus together in a 10 gallons (37.9 l) aquarium is a good way of successfully matching pairs for breeding. This same sources recommends large and frequent water changes, an increase in salinity
Salinity
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...
( from 2 tsp/gallon up to 1 tbsp/gallon), and "spoil(ing) them with live food" rather than frozen food as effective means to coax captive B. nunus into breeding.
Newly emerged B. nunus fry are tiny and should be isolated from adults so they are not cannibalized
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
. A five gallon tank is big enough for them. The fry are very sensitive to water quality and changes in temperature or salinity so it is recommended to fill their new tank with water from their original tank and then maintain the water quality rigorously. Newly fry can be fed vinegar eels or commercially-prepared liquid fry food but are big enough to devour newly hatched brine shrimp within a few days.
Similar species
BrachygobiusBrachygobius
Brachygobius is a small genus of gobies. They are popular aquarium fish where a number of species are sold as bumblebee gobies because their colours are similar to those of bumblebees.-Morphology:...
species are informally divided by taxonomists into two species groups. The dwarf "Brachygobius nunus species group" contains Brachygobius nunus, Brachygobius aggregatus, and Brachygobius mekongensis while the "Brachygobius doriae species group" contains the bigger species of Brachygobius doriae, Brachygobius sabanus, and Brachygobius xanthomelas.