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Species: Gonodactylaceus graphurus

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Click on any image to see an enlargement. All photos © 2005 Roy Caldwell.

Common name: None

Functional type: Smasher

Range: Tropical Australia to southern Indonesia

Habitat: Inshore reef flats, often somewhat muddy

Depth: Just sub-tidal to 50 m

Home: Cavity in coral rubble or occasionally in branching live coral

Diet: Generalist; small crabs and other crustaceans; gastropods and bivalves

Size: 8–90 mm

Color: Highly polymorphic from red to pale green to black-green; often mottled or striped; meral spot bright orange

Distinguishing Characters: Orange meral spot; transverse grooves on abdominal pleurites 1-5; abdominal tergite with short median carinule (arrow)

Activity: Diurnal, closes at night

Aquarium Requirements:

Temperature: 21–28° C

Salinity: 33–36 PSU

Cohabitants: Very aggressive; will kill crustaceans, mollusks and echinoderms

Aquarium size (adult): 40 l

Aquarium substrate: Sand and gravel; dead coral and LR; cavity

Suitability for Aquarium: Excellent; as a coastal species, it can tolerate some fluctuation in water parameters

Availability: Occasional; this species is common in tropical Australia and is easy to collect inshore

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