Blue Cheek Goby - Valenciennea strigata Puffers & Boxfish

Blue Cheek Goby - Valenciennea strigata Puffers & BoxfishBlue Cheek Goby (Valenciennea strigata) The Blue Cheek Goby, Valenciennea strigata, is a beautiful and highly useful marine sand sifting goby, recognised for its bright yellow head, blue facial stripe, pale body and active substrate cleaning behaviour. Also known as the Golden Head Sleeper Goby or Blueband Goby, this species spends much of its day taking mouthfuls of sand, filtering out tiny foods and expelling clean sand through the gills. It can be

feeding specimens with good body condition and undamaged fins

and monitor for tissue recession

strong bite

Specialist omnivorous grazer with a strong sponge and tunicate-feeding element

but it needs a mature setup with secure rockwork and plenty of substrate

coral branches or ledges while watching the aquarium around it

enriched brineshrimp

tiny blennies and other gentle pipefish

good oxygenation and plenty of live rock

orange and red maze-like patterning

is one of the most striking and powerful marine surgeonfish

from Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean through Indonesia