Reddish lipstick goby - Sicyopus rubicundus

The reddish lipstick goby (Sicyopus rubicundus) was long sold as Sicyopus zosterophorum, Sicyopus exiliquamulus or Sicyopus auxilimentus. In the meantime it turned out that this lipstick goby belongs to the species Sicyopus rubicundus.

The pretty slender medium sized goby grows up to 7 cm long and originates from Indonesia in Southeast Asia. It gets its name from the striking reddish colored upper lip, especially in the dominant male. These males also show a reddish coloration in the abdomen. Adult females are much more colorless and roundish than males. Low-ranked males sometimes look quite similar to females in coloration.

In the wild, Sicyopus rubicundus lives in freshwater; it is found in flowing streams with soft water. Unlike many other gobies, the Reddish Lip Goby is a purely freshwater fish.

The Reddish Lip Goby is quite territorial, but still needs the company of conspecifics to live out its social behavior. A group of at least 5 to 6 Lipstick Gobies is recommended so that the normal intraspecific friction is relatively evenly distributed.

The aquarium should have at least 80 cm edge length. If you want to keep the lipstick gobies in a species tank, you can assign a rather shallow tank to the bottom dwellers, if you want to keep by-fish swimming in the higher layers, the tank must be correspondingly higher.

Lipstick gobies need a good structure in the aquarium consisting of caves, flat stone slabs, high stones and roots, so that they can give way and hide during territorial disputes. The aquarium can be planted with smaller plants. The aquarium must be well covered because the curious gobies like to explore.

A medium to strong water flow in the aquarium is recommended. Great are lipstick gobies suitable for stream aqu ariums. For substrate you should choose sand or fine gravel. A temperature of 23 to 25 °C is recommended, and a high oxygen content is absolutely necessary. The water in the aquarium can be soft to medium hard, humic substances are helpful.

You can socialize the Reddish Lipstick Goby with medium sized or even larger peaceful fish, but the tank mates should be more surface oriented. Small fish are eaten as well as dwarf shrimps.

Little is known about the breeding of Sicyopus rubicundus. It can be assumed that the Reddish Lip Goby spawns in cavities under shallow stone slabs. Males are responsible for brood care, tending to the spawn until the tiny larvae swim free. The tiny fry initially feed on fine live foods such as slipper gobies, later they will also eat Artemia nauplii. Breeding is relatively complicated.

The red lip goby is a carnivore. It hunts as a lurker and likes to eat insect larvae and worms. In the aquarium you should feed the beautifully drawn ornamental fish with live food such as Artemia nauplii, worms and sinking mosquito larvae. The red lipstick gobies can also be accustomed to frozen food over time.