Redhead Goby

Paragobiodon echinocephalus

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gobiiformes
Family: Gobiidae
Genus: Paragobiodon
Species: Paragobiodon echinocephalus

The redhead goby (Paragobiodon echinocephalus) is a tiny coral goby with a bristly red head and a dark body, living deep inside branching corals. Its head is covered in short whisker-like papillae.

It grows to about 3-4 cm and lives in pairs in Stylophora and Pocillopora corals, rarely leaving its host. It feeds on tiny plankton and is thought to help defend its coral from harmful seaweeds.

The redhead goby is found across the Indo-Pacific, including the Philippines, where it can be spotted by peering carefully between the branches of shallow corals.

Photo: Gregor Bailar, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist