Freshwater :: Gobies :: Marble Goby

 

Common Name(s): Marble Goby
Scientific Name: Oxyeleotris Marmorata
Local Name(s): [Hk]Soon Hock
Precaution: Harmless
Edible: Yes
CNR Time: 2 mins

The Marble Goby is the biggest species of gobies and is one of the best tasting freshwater fishes, often served in restaurants. Although they are mainly predatory fish, they are quite lazy in chasing prey. They typically wait for unsuspecting prey to swim near its hiding and strikes when they get close enough. Their colour and pattern serves very good camouflage for this purpose, especially in stream banks and rocky banks.

They can be found in reservoir banks hiding between rocks or under the cover of a jetty. They can also be found in shallow streams hiding along side of the bank where overgrown vegetation provides cover for safety and ambushing prey. They are are also able to to tolerate brackish water to a certain extent.

They are more active during the night and may come out of their hiding to forage for food. They typically feed on small fishes, prawns and worms. The Marble Goby, like groupers are greedy fish which makes them easy to catch once their location has been identified.

They may also be caught using traps, one of the known method was to place a segment of pipe leaving some bait in it. It will lure the fish into the pipe, which it will remain there. Live goldfishes are also commonly used and proved to be a very effective bait.

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Reference: Fishbase