Noticed the citrons being bozos on the glass, and--lo and behold--they were up to no good!
Those aren't copepods on the glass. :)



H
Here's a millimeter scale shot at the same resolution as the eggs and with an egg superimposed:

Video to follow as soon as YouTube gets done with it.

Here's the short version of the movie featuring the female. I have a longer version that's uploading now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa3lD2RVuIY

It looks like the pair ate this nest. :( Typical for a first spawn, though.

Andy, I cross linked the video into our video gallery. (Gallery)

Congratulations!

OK, Andy. We'd love to have your Spawning Report for Gobiodon citrinus when you have a chance. The one submitted in 1993 could use an update and photos!

Citron gobies are spawning again tonight. This time they chose an actual coral to spawn on:



I'm surprised. The one in the photo took a big piece of urchin spine in the side (black mark on its left side in photo) earlier in the week and I thought I was going to lose it. But the wound healed over and it's been doing fine.

I'm sure they are done now, so I can risk glass cleaning and flash from below.

The complete photo:



100% crop:



200%:

Here's a new batch of eggs at about 24 hours post-spawn. Looks like a lot are fertile. :)

100% crop.


And enlarged to 200%.

And here are the 48 hour shots. Looks like maybe some eye development starting.

Full photo:


100% crop:


200% enlargement:

And we have lots of eyes. :) You guys know the drill: Whole photo, 100% crop, 200% enlargement. These are at about 70 hours.

Today's goby egg installment:







That's from earlier today. I just looked again and the yolk's just about gone. They should hatch tonight.

Congratulations. That certainly was fast. Keep the posts coming.

Thanks! The eggs were gone overnight. And the next afternoon, the parents were putting down (or up with them?) another nest. This nest didn't last, though. So, next time....

Awesome! Citron gobies are among my favorites. In my 180 I used to have two pair. One pair spawned regularly on "their" stony coral - but as you report - the eggs disappeared every time. I'm sure it was free food for something else in the tank.

They were laying a new batch yesterday. I think the photographed set probably hatched. Papa's been really good at protecting them.

I want to say up-front that I have _not_ given up on the sixlines. But they are being difficult right now (everything's set up and ready and they stopped spawning). So, in an effort to encourage them to get their act together I decided that I would try collecting some other larvae and see if I can make them jealous.

So, I set up the monster of a larvae snagger:



And got some gobies, first night. I need to tweak the placement a bit as the catch was a bit disappointing. But the live ones went into the larval rearing tank. This little guy didn't make it, but bravely volunteered to go under the microscope for me:

The gobies have moved their operation to the back side of an aquarium magnet. Seems like the perfect opportunity to try out some artificial incubation. Excellent!!