Why Are These Fish So Petty?

Home is where the heart is, but that doesn’t always make it a safe haven. There’s nothing more annoying than an obnoxious neighbor sticking their nose in your business, forcing you to defend your castle by any means necessary. These domestic disputes have no easy resolution, and sometimes, pettiness reigns supreme. In this YouTube video, a fish attempts to clean its front door, only for another fish to undo all its good work. Neighbors are known to get into petty disputes, and it seems that neighborhoods in the water aren’t exempt from squabbles. What causes this unbecoming behavior in fish? Let’s learn more about the fish in this video and why a dispute like this might have happened.

The Fish In Question

In this YouTube Video, several fish can be seen. Two are directly involved in the fight, while a few others come and check out the commotion. The offending fish (the one rapid-fire shooting sand into the burrow) is an orange-spotted sleeper goby (Valenciennea puellaris). Also called the maiden goby or the diamond watchman goby, this species is native to the Indian Ocean and has become a popular aquarium fish since its discovery in 1956. Many aquarium websites describe it as a peaceful, timid fish, which betrays its behavior in the video. In the wild, it primarily feeds on small invertebrates found in the sand, such as copepods and amphipods, while in aquariums it may also be fed shrimp and black worms.

The fish digging sand out of its burrow only to have sand thrown back in is a blue-spotted jawfish. Also known as the blue-spotted jawfish, it was first discovered in the Tropical Eastern Pacific in 1991. It features vibrant coloring with yellowish-orange behind blue iridescent spots. Also a carnivorous fish, blue-spotted jawfish primarily eat small invertebrates, zooplankton, and occasionally small crustaceans. Aquarium websites suggest it’s a serious burrower. These sites also say that blue-dotted jawfish are territorial, but rarely become aggressive with other fish.

As the dispute progresses, several other fish show up to see what’s going on. These fish include a clownfish and a scooter blenny. Clownfish are a common reef fish, well-known thanks to their inclusion in Pixar’s “Finding Nemo.” ‘Scooter Blenny’ is a bit of a misnomer for this dynamic-looking fish, which is also known as an ocellated dragonet. It is a bottom-dwelling fish that feeds primarily on zooplankton.

Eat Sand!

In this YouTube video, an orange-spotted sleeper goby and a blue-spotted jawfish get into a serious sand-flinging match. It seems that the goby is the offender, being petty by flinging sand at the jawfish and undoing all of its hard work. The jawfish is simply minding its own business, digging sand out of its burrow, only to have it flung back in. As for the eyewitnesses, the black clownfish seems to be acting as a referee or mediator. At the last moment, the dragonet appears, curious about all the commotion.

It’s a funny scene, both petty and adorable. But why are these fish engaging in such behavior? It turns out that it may not be as petty as it seems. According to this Reddit thread, blue spotted jawfish rarely pick fights and burrow as a rule. Gobies are consummate sand sifters, feeding primarily on small invertebrates and other organisms they find in the sand as they sift it through their gills. In the process, they will sometimes rearrange sandbeds. Whether this goby wanted the burrow filled or the jawfish simply got caught in the crossfire, we may never know.