Golden-headed Sleeper Goby, Blueband Goby, Pennant Glider, Valenciennea strigata

The Golden-headed Sleeper Goby, Blueband Goby, or Pennant Glider are not only pretty fish, but are great for a marine environment where you want the substrate to constantly be sifted through. These fish really use their mouths! They are constantly digging and turning over the sandy substrate. Besides this ongoing activity of "chewing" the sand, these gobies can communicate with each other by producing signals with their mouths.

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Geographic Distribution Valenciennea strigata


Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Gobiidae
Data provided by FishBase.org

Maintenance difficulty:
The Golden-headed Sleeper Goby, Blueband Goby, or Pennant Glider are moderately difficult to keep, considered good for a more experienced aquarist with a larger system, where they can find plenty to eat.
Like other members of the Valenciennea species, they feed by taking up mouthfuls of sand and pass it through their gill covers to extract small crustaceans, worms and algae. It is important that they have a sufficient amount of "live" sand for them to sift through.

Maintenance/Foods:
A typical goby, they eat small crustaceans and other small marine organisms. Live brine and a high protein krill are ideal for the aquarium.

"Thrives on nearly all marine frozen foods, live and flake foods once feeding...Rachel Dixon"

Habitat: Natural geographical location:
Golden-headed Sleeper Goby, Blueband Goby, or Pennant Glider are found throughout the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans. (They are technically no longer classified as a "sleeper" goby, which is the family Eleotridae).

Social Behaviors:
The live in pairs and like to burrow in the sand, especially juveniles.

"They are peaceful with other fish especially their own kind and may be considered safe to keep in pairs or small groups where space and filtration capacity allows...Rachel Dixon"

Sexual differences:
Unknown

Breeding/Reproduction:
Unknown

Light: Recommended light levels:
No special requirements.

Temperature:
No special requirements.

Length/Diameter of fish:
Golden-headed Sleeper Goby, Blueband Goby, or Pennant Glider adults can grow to 18 cm (7 inches) in the wild.

Minimum tank/length size:
A minimum 50 gallon aquarium is recommended.

Water movement:
No special requirements.

Water Region:

"Spends most of its time on the bottom sifting sand...Rachel Dixon"

Availability:
This fish is common and is moderately expensive.

Latest Comments
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yeah.. i have a golden head sleeper and he is extremely territorial of his burrow. he sift sands onto the passing fish and wont let any one hang out by his burrow. i dont think this fish is as peaceful as its reputaion proceeds it. i found my close to dead sweetlips in his burrow once when i came from work, that fish is no longer in my tanks. jon 2007-04-19
easy to keep fish once eating. i have raised a pair from very small to adulthood. they are now nearly 8 inches long and have laid eggs a few times. i have yet to try to raise the eggs. glass shrimp are ideal to feed to them. live sand is a must .....p paul janjatovic 2005-12-03
I've kept a golden headed sleeper goby in a tank with a seahorse, and this wasn't a good idea, as the goby was quite rough and quick moving around the seahorse. Thanks Anonymous 2005-09-19
Some of the coolest comments:
Just an observation. The Valenciennea strigata and all other Valenciennea gobys' are definitely not a good reef fish. It is constantly digging the substrate for food and deleting beneficial organisms that the reef owner would want. Not to mention, they then deposit the substrate all over the expensive corals. Geoff 2008-02-05

Back to Gobies, Blennies, Mandarinfish

Author: David Brough. CFS.

Golden-headed Sleeper Goby

"This lovely fish has a pearly white colour for the body and a yellow face with a blue stripe across the cheek. It is an easy-to-keep fish and makes an ideal introduction to gobies as long as there is enough substrate for them to sift through; it constantly digs for food particles...Rachel Dixon"

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Marine Aquarium

"Thrives on nearly all marine frozen foods, live and flake foods once feeding...Rachel Dixon"

"They are peaceful with other fish especially their own kind and may be considered safe to keep in pairs or small groups where space and filtration capacity allows...Rachel Dixon"

"Spends most of its time on the bottom sifting sand...Rachel Dixon"

Golden-headed Sleeper Goby

"This lovely fish has a pearly white colour for the body and a yellow face with a blue stripe across the cheek. It is an easy-to-keep fish and makes an ideal introduction to gobies as long as there is enough substrate for them to sift through; it constantly digs for food particles...Rachel Dixon"

For more Information on keeping this fish see: Guide to a Happy, Healthy Marine Aquarium

"Thrives on nearly all marine frozen foods, live and flake foods once feeding...Rachel Dixon"

"They are peaceful with other fish especially their own kind and may be considered safe to keep in pairs or small groups where space and filtration capacity allows...Rachel Dixon"

"Spends most of its time on the bottom sifting sand...Rachel Dixon"

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Marine Aquarium