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Sleeper Gobies
Although similar to the gobies, sleepers lack the fused pelvic fins (the ‘sucker’ on the belly). Sleeper gobies tend to be fairly large, omnivores with a taste for small fish, and rather territorial towards one another. But when combined with fish they can’t swallow, they are excellent community fish. Most species are extremely hardy and generally easy to keep.
The commonest sleeper goby traded, Dormitator maculatus, is sold as a pretty little fish that barely hints at the 25 cm plus (over 10 inches) monster it can potentially become. It is essentially a predatory fish, but will accept chopped up mollusc and crustacean meats as well as fresh white fish. It is found along the entire east coast of tropical South and Central America in brackish and marine water. Occasionally it enters freshwater, but it is much healthier in water that has some salt added. When small the colouration is rather plain, with an overall pale brass coloured body with dark bands on either flank. With age a colourful pattern of red and blue spots develop, which the fish seem to be able to change with their mood. Like many sleepers, the eye tends to have a glassy look, as if the fish is unconscious. Hence the name, perhaps?
A similar species from West Africa, Dormitator lebretonis, is offered for sale fairly regularly. It is sometimes called the African goby or clay goby. It is much smaller (around 10 cm when fully grown) and suitable for both freshwater as well as low salinity brackish water systems.
Another predatory sleeper is the crazy fish Butis butis. Growing to around 15 cm (6 inches) this fish is rather more territorial than the common sleeper. It is handsome if sombre, being various shades of mottled brown in colour looking rather like a bullrout. Basically nocturnal this fish will feed on any invertebrate or fish it can overpower. Found in fresh, brackish and salt water it will adapt to most conditions although some salt is recommended (specific gravity 1.005 to 1.015). This fish gets its common name for its habit of perching upside down beneath overhanging rocks or pieces of wood, and sometimes in midwater.
The Australian/New Guinean sleeper goby Bostrychus zonatus is an uncommonly traded species noted for its relatively small size (around 13 cm) and handsome rather than colourful appearance (see photo at top left of this page). Like all sleepers it is predatory and territorial, but is otherwise peaceful and makes a good community fish when combined with species of similar size. Though sometimes traded as a freshwater fish, a low salinity around SG 1.005 is recommended.