Fusigobius duospilus
A tiny reef goby logged in Sulawesi, Indonesia, sitting on rubble and coral in warm 24.5-28.8C water year-round.
A tiny goby, around 4cm, with a slender, torpedo-shaped body that sits propped on its pectoral fins rather than swimming freely. Pale, sandy-grey to translucent overall, with the namesake pair of small dark spots along the body that separate it from plainer gobies sharing the same rubble patches. Look closely at eye level with the substrate; at a glance it can vanish into the background.
Spends most of its time perched motionless on rubble, sand, or low coral rather than swimming in open water, darting only short distances when disturbed. Divers who slow down and scan close to the substrate rather than the water column have the best chance of spotting one. It's an uncommon sighting even at the one site it's logged from, so treat any find as a bit of a bonus rather than an expectation.
Like other Fusigobius gobies, it likely pairs with a burrowing shrimp or shelters in small cavities in the substrate, though this hasn't been directly documented for this species; either way, its whole life plays out within a few centimetres of the seabed.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sightings, and water in its recorded range sits comfortably between 24.5 and 28.8C, so it's a year-round find rather than a seasonal one.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Currently logged from a single dive site in Sulawesi, Indonesia, so that region is the only confirmed place to look for it. Sulawesi's rubble and coral-sand patches around reef bases are the habitat to search, rather than open reef faces.
Mapping where Twospot Goby is logged…
The only confirmed sightings so far come from Sulawesi, Indonesia, where it's been logged on rubble and sandy patches near the reef. It hasn't yet been recorded at other dive destinations.
There's no detected season for this species. It's recorded in water between 24.5 and 28.8C, typical of tropical reefs year-round, so any time of year is fair game in Sulawesi.
Look for a tiny, roughly 4cm goby perched on rubble or sand with a pale, sandy body and two small dark spots along its flanks. It stays close to the substrate and darts only short distances rather than swimming in open water.
They're small, reaching only about 4cm in length, which makes them easy to overlook on a rubble-strewn reef bottom.
No, it's currently logged as an uncommon sighting even at the one site where it's been recorded, so spotting one takes a slow, close look at the substrate.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Slender Goby
803 sites
