A dark, unremarkable goby until it raises a first dorsal fin twice the height of its own body, patterned like a leopard.
A shrimpgoby that shares a burrow with an alpheid snapping shrimp on the usual terms: the shrimp digs and maintains, the goby watches, and a flick of the goby’s tail against the shrimp’s antenna sends both underground. What sets this one apart is the first dorsal fin, which in a displaying male is close to twice the depth of the body, rounded, and marked with dark blotches on a pale ground.
The fin comes up in territorial display and courtship, and it comes up briefly. The usual pattern for a photographer is a long wait at distance while the fish decides you are not a threat, and then two or three seconds of the fin fully raised. Approaching from low and to the side works better than from above; a shadow crossing the burrow ends the dive for that fish.
Body colour is variable, from pale grey-brown with fine blue speckling to almost black, and dark individuals photograph very differently from pale ones, which is why the species is often not recognised in the field.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
