Lemon Coralgoby, Gobiodon citrinus (Rüppell 1838)
Other Names: Fourbar Goby, Four-bar Maori Goby, Lemon Coral Goby, Poison Goby
Lemon Coralgobies, Gobiodon citrinus, on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. Source: Rick Stuart-Smith / Reef Life Survey. License: CC BY Attribution
Summary:
A small yellow to yellowish-green or brownish goby with a pair of pale blue vertical bars through the eye, a blue bar across the back of the head, one on the gill cover, another on the pectoral-fin base, a small black spot at the top of the pectoral-fin base, and pale blue stripes along the bases of the dorsal and anal fins.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2025, Gobiodon citrinus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 27 Jun 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/131
Lemon Coralgoby, Gobiodon citrinus (Rüppell 1838)
More Info
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Distribution |
Recorded in Australia from about Carnarvon, Western Australia, to Ashmore Reef, Timor Sea, and the Murray Islands to Moreton Bay, Queensland; also at Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean, and Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere, the species occurs in the Indo-west-central Pacific: Mozambique, Madagascar to the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Réunion, to Indonesia, north to the Mariana Islands and southern Japan southward Lord Howe Island (Australia) and New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga and the Austral Islands in French Polynesia. Lives in association with broadly-branching Acropora table corals - sheltering in crevices among the coral branches in sheltered lagoon habitats. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin VI + I, 10; anal fin I, 9; Pectoral fin 18-19. Body depth 2.3-2.7 in SL; pelvic-fin frenum and basal membrane complete; scales absent. |
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Colour |
High, yellow body, small black spot at pectoral fin base, two blue bars over eye, one at back of head and one on pectoral fin base, and blue stripes along base of dorsal and anal fin. Lives amongst coral, often on openly branching corals and less shy than other coral gobies. Produces toxic mucus. |
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Feeding |
Feeds mostly on coral tissue from its Acropora host. |
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Biology |
A hermaphrodite capable of bi-directional sex change in which adults have the capacity to shift between male and female function. |
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Remarks |
The Lemon Coralgoby produces a toxic mucous. |
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Etymology |
The specific name is from the Latin citrinus (= lemon yellow) in reference to the yellow colour of this species. |
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Species Citation |
Gobius citrinus Rüppell, 1838, Fische des Rothen Meeres 4: 139, pl. 32(4). Type locality: Massaua, Red Sea. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2025 |
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Resources |
Lemon Coralgoby, Gobiodon citrinus (Rüppell 1838)
References
Allen, G.R. 1993. Fishes of Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 44: 67-91.
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.
Grant, E.M. 1975. Guide to Fishes. Brisbane : Queensland Government, Co-ordinator General’s Department 640 pp.
Grant, E.M. 1991. Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : EM Grant Pty Ltd 480 pp.
Harold, A.S., Winterbottom, R., Munday, P.L. & Chapman, R.W. 2008. Phylogenetic relationships of Indo-Pacific coral gobies of the genus Gobiodon (Teleostei: Gobiidae), based on morphological and molecular data. Bulletin of Marine Science 82(1): 119-136
Herler, J., Koblmüller, S. & Sturmbauer, C. 2009. Phylogenetic relationships of coral-associated gobies (Teleostei, Gobiidae) from the Red Sea based on mitochondrial DNA data. Marine Biology 156: 725–739.
Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)
Kuiter R.W. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 3. Jawfishes - Sunfishes, Opistognathidae - Molidae. Melbourne : Zoonetics pp. 623–893.
Larson, H. 2019. Gobiodon citrinus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T193106A2196006. Accessed on 17 February 2025.
Munday, P.L., Harold, A.S. & Winterbottom, R.W. 1999. Guide to coral-dwelling gobies, genus Gobiodon (Gobiidae) from Papua New Guinea and the Great Barrier Reef. Revue Française d'Aquariologie et Herpétologie 26: 53-58.
Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. A comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia. Guam : Coral Graphics vi 330 pp. 192 pls.
Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.
Rüppell, W.P.E. 1838. Neue Wirbelthiere zu der Fauna von Abyssinien gehörig. Fische des Rothen Meeres. Frankfurt Vol. 4, pp. 81–148, pls 22–33.
