Yasha Goby (Stonogobiops yasha)
A darkly pigmented male impressing a female. Credit: Sabine Penisson
First, a brief etyomology interlude, as the origins of the name “Yasha” is an interesting story. The first specimens to be discovered were found in Japan, where they were given the local name “Yashahaze”. “Haze” is a common name for gobies in Japanese, and “Yasha” is a type of female devil-like creature of Buddhist mythology, which is depicted as having a pair of enlarged canines. And so the prominent vomerine teeth of S. yasha are alluded to in its whimsical name. The species has many other common names. One is a bastardized misspelling (Yashia Goby) which certain marine wholesalers insist upon. Others include more prosaic sobriquets, like the White-ray Goby or, confusingly, the Clown Goby
Juveniles are darkly colored. Credit: himechanz
Despite its ubiquity in our hobby,the Yasha Goby first began appearing in aquariums around the late 1990’s, and it was only in 2001 that it was scientifically described. It is still only documented from a handful of scattered locations—the distribution map above includes all verified localities for this species—which gives the impression of a widespread Western Pacific population that is apparently highly sporadic in its occurrence. The preferred habitat is no different from others in its genus—sand or rubble bottoms at moderate depths (15-40m). Why it is that this species is so infrequently encountered in the wild is one of its lingering enigmas and perhaps lends some charm to this already charismatic creature.
An aberrantly spotted and double-striped form. Credit: unknown
Identification couldn’t be simpler, as this is the only red longitudinally-striped species in the genus, or any genus of shrimpgoby for that matter. S. yasha is often found paired with S. nematodes in the wild, but it is unknown to form other interspecies pairs. This behavioral quirk, in addition to their similar dorsal fin morphology, gives evidence to indicate a close relationship. But it’s difficult to determine whether these two taxa are truly sister species or if yasha is instead basal to the other Stonogobiops. Answers to that await genetic study. One argument to be made against a direct monophyly for these two species is the highly disparate color patterns. The longitudinal stripes of yasha are a feature more commonly seen in the closely-related genus Myersina. Also take note of the large red spots on the head of yasha, which correspond to the location of the first diagonal bar seen in other Stonogobiops species.… More:
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