Bryaninops yongei
Barely 2cm long and perched on whip corals in Fiji's Viti Levu and French Polynesia's Society Islands, in water around 25-29 C year-round.
Barely 2 centimetres long and almost see-through, with a slender body that clings lengthwise along a whip coral or wire coral strand rather than swimming free. Look for faint reddish-brown saddle markings along its back and large dark eyes; it usually sits head-up, gripping the coral with its fused fin (a sucker-like structure gobies use to hold position in current).
Spend most of its time motionless on a single whip coral or wire coral, facing into the current with its body pressed flat against the strand. It rarely strays from its chosen coral and tends to shuffle around to the far side rather than flee when a torch or camera gets close, which makes it a patient macro subject once you find the right coral. Divers usually spot it on deeper drop-offs and walls where these corals grow in clusters.
Pairs often claim a single whip coral for life, spacing themselves out along the strand and rarely moving to a neighbouring one even when it is only centimetres away.
No clear season shows up in the sightings data, and its comfortable range of roughly 25 to 29 C spans most tropical reefs all year, so any month is fair game. Plan around good visibility and calm current rather than a particular time of year.
Most reliably logged in Fiji, especially around Viti Levu, and across French Polynesia's Society Islands, with a further scattering of sightings in the Philippines (Luzon and the Visayas) and Hawaii. Smaller numbers turn up in Queensland, KwaZulu-Natal, Sulawesi and New Caledonia, usually wherever whip corals or wire corals grow on deeper reef slopes.
Mapping where Whip Coral Goby is logged…
Fiji, particularly Viti Levu, and French Polynesia's Society Islands turn up the most sightings, with additional records from the Philippines, Hawaii, Queensland and KwaZulu-Natal wherever whip or wire coral grows.
There is no strong seasonal pattern in sightings, and its 25-29 C comfort range covers tropical reefs year-round, so it can be found in any month.
Look for a translucent, pencil-thin fish under 2cm long clinging lengthwise to a whip coral or wire coral strand, with faint reddish saddle marks and large dark eyes. It sits still rather than swimming, which is often the giveaway.
Around 2cm, making it one of the smaller reef gobies divers photograph and easy to swim straight past if you are not scanning whip corals closely.
It uses a modified sucking fin to grip the smooth surface of whip and wire corals, spending its whole adult life on one strand and rarely leaving it, which gives it shelter and a fixed vantage point over passing plankton.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Slender Goby
803 sites
