Flagtail Shrimp Goby

Amblyeleotris yanoi

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gobiiformes
Family: Gobiidae
Genus: Amblyeleotris
Species: Amblyeleotris yanoi

The flagtail shrimp goby (Amblyeleotris yanoi) is a beautiful shrimp goby with orange-red bands, a bright yellow-and-blue tail and fins edged in colour. It is one of the most colourful of the shrimp gobies.

It grows to about 10-13 cm and shares a burrow with an alpheid shrimp in sand or rubble. As with other shrimp gobies, the goby watches for danger while the shrimp keeps the burrow in order.

The flagtail shrimp goby occurs in the western Pacific, including the Philippines, where it is found on sandy slopes, often at moderate depths.

Photo: Ben Costamagna, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist