Previous species

Species: Gonodactylaceus ternatensis

Next species

Click on any image to see an enlargement. All photos © 2005 Roy Caldwell.

Common name: None

Functional type: Smasher

Range: Central Pacific to southern China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Australia

Habitat: Live coral specialist, usually in finely branching corals

Depth: Low intertidal to 10 m; usually found in bright, shallow waters

Home: Chips out cavities in center of live, branching corals

Diet: Crustaceans and gastropods; little is known of its diet in the wild

Size: 8–120 mm (this is the largest species of gonodactylid)

Color: Sexually color dimorphic; body of both sexes dark green with red inter-segmental stripes; males with blue antennal scales and uropods; females with orange or yellow antennal scales and uropods; meral spot bright orange

Distinguishing Characters: Orange meral spot; red inter-segmental line (occasionally seen in Gonodactylus smithii)

Activity: Diurnal

Aquarium Requirements:

Temperature: 22–29° C

Salinity: 33–35 PSU

Cohabitants: Will eat small crustaceans and gastropods; will chip live, branching coral

Aquarium size (adult): 40 l

Aquarium substrate: Sand and gravel; cavity or branching coral

Suitability for Aquarium: Good; will break coral and requires stable water parameters; one concern is that this species is often collected from live coral heads that may be destroyed in the collecting process

Availability: Occasional, particularly in shipments from Indonesia

Back to the Species Directory
External Anatomy and Explanatory Notes