One of the most fascinating things you’ll see in a saltwater aquarium is a goby and pistol shrimp pair.
The little shrimp spends all his time digging a tunnel system under the rockwork and when he ventures out in search of food or building materials, the ever-watchful goby stands guard ready to ward off any potential threats.
They really are a treat to watch and can be highly comical as you can see in the following video of my watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair.
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My Watchman Goby and Pistol Shrimp Pair Video
LOL! He’d taken that old snail shell into the cave a few days before and then brought it back out but now he’s decided he doesn’t even want it near his cave entrance!
(To take better videos and pics with your smartphone see our guide on How To Take Better Marine Aquarium Pics.)
The Goby and Shrimp Relationship
The goby and shrimp relationship is a symbiotic one where both parties gain by each bringing different abilities to the team for their mutual benefit.
The shrimp has poor eyesight but is great at building and maintaining a burrow or tunnel system. The goby has excellent eyesight but is not so good at creating a place to hide.
So, evolution has brought the pair together. The goby lodges in the shrimp’s burrow for safety and, in return, guards the goby whenever he is outside the burrow looking for food or suitable rubble, etc needed to maintain the burrow.
The pair keep in constant physical contact by way of the shrimp’s long and highly sensitive antennae where one is nearly always touching the goby. The goby uses subtle tail signals to warn the shrimp of imminent danger so he can make a dash back to the safety of the burrow.
It’s sometimes an odd and comical relationship to watch. The ever paranoid shrimp obsessively maintains his burrow in the sand or rocks, creating new entrances, closing up old ones and constantly shoveling sand around like a mini JCB digger.
Meanwhile, the goby, with his permanently glum look, hovers around the shrimp looking for all the world as if he wishes the bloody shrimp would give it a rest!
Indeed, my yellow watchman goby often goes to the other end of the tank for a few hours and just sits on its own. (I just think they’ve had another ‘domestic’ lol!)
Let’s look at the two individuals in a bit more detail:-
Yellow Watchman Goby
The yellow watchman goby is a great little fish that is aptly named as it ‘watches over’ its shrimp partner.
The down-turned mouth gives it a permanently glum and fed-up look and it often appears exasperated by the shrimp’s antics.
As a small fish though, they need a place to hide from more aggressive or predatory reef dwellers hence their relationship with the shrimp who builds and maintains their shared burrow.
The yellow watchman goby reaches a size of 8 – 10cm and rarely strays far from the burrow so is an ideal fish for small nano tanks.
They are reef safe and non-aggressive (except to the same sex of their own species) so can be kept in any peaceful saltwater community tank.
However, they should not be kept with aggressive tank mates as they may harass the goby and prevent it from reaching food.
They are hardy fish and will readily take any frozen, flake or pellet food making them ideal for beginners. They are known jumpers though, so be sure to have a jump guard over your tank.
They can be kept without a paired shrimp but are definitely more settled (and less likely to jump) with one.
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
The tiger pistol shrimp is remarkable not only in its symbiotic relationship with its goby lodger but also with its specially adapted ‘pistol’ claw.
This claw is used for hunting and fires a pulse of water at their chosen prey to stun it. As the pulse is ‘fired’ a tiny bubble is created and, as it pops, it creates a sound like a gun going off hence the name of ‘pistol’.
The sound can be quite alarming for us aquarium keepers as it also sounds like glass cracking! You do get used to it though.
They have poor eyesight and rely on their goby ‘lodger’ to warn them of any danger when they are outside the safety of their burrow.
They can be kept without a goby as they are scavengers who feed on any scraps of food waste, etc they find in the sand. However, without a goby ‘watchman’ they will rarely venture outside their burrow so you won’t see a lot of them. You’ll still hear them though!
If you have one be sure to provide it with plenty of rock rubble that it will use on its building projects. Be aware that it will rearrange your sand bed constantly which is both a good thing and annoying at the same time.
Don’t place small coral frags on the sand bed either as the shrimp just regards these as ‘another brick in the wall’.
Likewise, it treats snails in the same manner. I don’t think it eats them unless they are dead and decaying but it will drag them down into its burrow and use them as a small rock. If tightly enough wedged in the snail will not be able to escape and will eventually die.
It’s also vital that your rock structure is firmly down on your aquarium base and not sitting on the sand. The elaborate burrows created by the shrimp can easily undermine an unsecured rock structure potentially leading to catastrophic landslides.
Like any other shrimp, the tiger pistol shrimp will molt and shed its outer shell as it grows. This is when it’s at its most vulnerable so you may not see it for a few days as it remains in its burrow until the new shell hardens.
Some molts aren’t 100% successful either and they will often emerge with only one claw. (Better to lose a limb than a life I suppose). Don’t be too concerned if this happens as they soon grow a replacement.
Goby and Shrimp Pairings
In the saltwater aquarium hobby, the yellow watchman goby and tiger pistol shrimp are the most common pairing that you will come across, certainly in our local fish stores here in the UK.
However, there are many other gobies and shrimps that can be paired just as successfully. Let’s have a look at a few of the more popular.
First, the gobies:-
Apart from the Yellow Watchman goby above there are a few more that are popular:-
Randall’s Goby
A stunning small fish with a large and delicate dorsal fin and thin golden stripes. Best paired with a Randall’s shrimp but should pair up with a Tiger Pistol shrimp.
Feed frozen mysis, brine shrimp or finely chopped krill. Will also eat flake and granule foods.
Maximum size around 10cm.
Dracula Goby
Another stunner with alternating black and red stripes, the Dracula goby should pair up readily with a Randall’s or Tiger Pistol shrimp.
Although small, maximum size 7cm, these fish can be quite rare and therefore expensive.
Feed frozen mysis, brine shrimp or finely chopped krill. Will also eat flake and granule foods.
Aurora Goby
A very pretty goby with thick orange stripes, the Aurora goby will pair up with a Tiger Pistol or Randall’s shrimp.
Again, feed frozen mysis, brine shrimp or finely chopped krill. Will also eat flake and granule foods.
And the shrimps:-
Randall’s Shrimp
Best paired with a Randall’s goby, the Randall’s shrimp will also pair with the other gobies shown above.
More brightly coloured than the Tiger Pistol shrimp, the Randall’s shrimp makes a stunning addition to any saltwater aquarium.
Bullseye Shrimp
Worth a mention as it is one of the most attractive of all the pistol shrimps but they are rare (and therefore expensive) and pairing them with a goby is trickier than either the Randall’s or Tiger Pistol shrimps.
How to Pair a Goby and Pistol Shrimp
The easiest way to pair any of the shrimps and gobies listed is to buy them as a matched pair. Your local fish store may even pair them for you by introducing them to each other in one of their small display tanks.
If that isn’t possible or there are no matched pairs available, try to introduce them at the same time and in the same part of your tank.
If you have a quarantine tank, add them both to that with only a small rock as a hiding place. They will both go to that and should pair quickly.
Keep a close eye on them and watch for any signs of aggression although this is unlikely. You’ll know they have paired when the shrimp keeps one of his antennae on the goby and the goby follows the shrimp around as he explores the tank.
If you already have a goby, try to add the shrimp as close to the goby’s hidey-hole as you can. They should find each other.
If they do not find each other you could try catching them and either placing them in another small tank or even a plastic bag for a brief period. Then add them back to your aquarium together.
Catching them is going to be problematic so this should only be considered as a last resort.
However, there are no guarantees when it comes to pairing. Some gobies and some shrimps just don’t pair and there’s not a lot you can do in that case. The odds, though, are strongly in favour that they will pair.
Goby and Pistol Shrimp FAQs
What gobies will pair with pistol shrimp? – Not all gobies will pair up with a pistol shrimp so you need to look out for specific ‘shrimp goby’ species. The gobies listed in this article are the most common and most likely to pair successfully.
Can a pistol shrimp live without a goby? – Yes, pistol shrimps can be kept without a goby. However, they won’t come out of their burrow as much so won’t see them very often. You’ll hear them though and see the result of their overnight rescaping of your sand bed.
Will a pistol shrimp pair with any goby? There are no absolute guarantees but the gobies and pistol shrimps listed in this article should pair up. It helps if they are bought together or introduced to your tank at the same time.
Can pistol shrimps be kept with other shrimps? We would caution against keeping a pistol shrimp with any other shrimp apart from a cleaner shrimp. Cleaner shrimp usually occupy a position higher on the rock scape and will rarely come across the sand and burrow-dwelling pistol shrimps.
Pistol shrimps are vulnerable when small or molting making them an easy target for other shrimp. Even larger peppermint shrimp can and will eat small or vulnerable pistol shrimps.
Are pistol shrimp loud? – Yes, very! As the pistol shrimp fires its pulse (to stun prey or ward off predators) a tiny bubble is created that instantly pops creating a sound that has been measured to over 200 decibels!
In reality, the sound is more like that if you tap your knuckle on a hard surface. You do get used to it.
Can a pistol shrimp break glass? – This is something of an urban myth. The sound they make when firing their ‘pistol’ can sound like glass cracking though. Disconcerting, certainly… but actually break the glass?…No.
How do you introduce goby and pistol shrimp? – The easiest way to pair a goby and pistol shrimp is to introduce them to your tank at the same time and in the same area.
If introduced separately and they do not pair, then catch them both and add them to a small bucket for a couple of hours. Then add them back to the tank at the same time and in the same area.