Goby that swim like a snake?

[SushiChan]

Hi,

Over the weekend, my husband and I saw a really neat goby at the local fish store. The name they give to the goby is Bar Goby. We wanted to do some research on it before purchasing it. When we got home, we looked it up and the pictures we found do not look anything like the goby we saw at the store. I am wondering if anyone on this forum can tell us what it is. But we do not have any pictures of it. :(

The goby has a bright pink horizontal thick strip on its body (from eye to tail?). I can't remember the color of the rest of its body, but I faintly remember that it's very colorful. (The Bar Goby pix we found have vertical strips on their bodies.) And this goby moves like a snake. It also buries itself into the sand substrate, covering completely. It's also thin and long like a snake.

I hope someone can help id this fish. I will try to get a picture if the fist is still there when we go back......

Thanks,

[Triggeraddict]

I think you are referring to the Curious Wormfish (Curious Dartfish). Scientific name is Gunnellichthys curiosus. Search under this and it should be your fish. Hope this helps.

[SushiChan]

Triggeraddict,

Thank you so much for your reply. That is exactly the fish!!! I was able to find pictures to confirm. But I am not able to find any other information on the fish. Do you have any advice? I searched in ReefCentral forums and only found one post that talks about the fish from 2 people's personal experiences. One of them had the fist for only 2 months, the other for 5+months. I understand that the wormfish hides a lot and it is a carnivore.

Can you tell me if it is compatible with a Red Scooter Dragonet? And will the Wormfish eat all the creatures in the substrate? Other information will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

[EdKruzel]

It will eat fauna from the substrate. The Curious Wormfish is a very docile fish and should not be placed in a tank with any boistrious or aggressive species.

Even a dwarf angel in smaller tanks will cause this fish to hide and probably starve.

Dragonettes, Seahorses, other small Gobies are some of the only good tankmates.
This fish is a bit too timid for the average reef system.

Take Care,
Ed

[SushiChan]

Thanks Ed,

If we do get the Curious Wormfish, we plan on putting him with the Red Scooter Dragonet and 2 Firefish Gobies. The Firefish are the biggest chickens we have ever seen.... They run from even our tiny tank-raised False Percula Clown (1/2" or so). So now they are in a separate tank from the clowns that we have.

I am not worried about the Firefish scaring the Wormfish. It will most likely be the other way around. But the Wormfish sounds very timid himself. So that's why I asked about the compatibility with the Dragonet.

Thanks!