Clownfish imitating Diamond Goby

[clockman]

Has anyone noticed their clownfish being curious of the sand-sifting diamond goby and try to imitate what it does with the sand? My black/white ocellaris clown follows him around out of curiosity, but never aggressive against it, and will grab a mouthful of sand and spit it out which seems to be imitating what the goby does. He/she is also curious of the entrance to the sand cave under the live rock and pokes its face in it sometimes. Very entertaining to watch!

 

[SaltyT]

Can you try to post a video? I‘d like to see this!

 

[clockman]

I'll try! It happens so rarely that it's hard to catch it doing it, and it'll only do it once and not repeatedly. Probably figures that sand its mouth is not a pleasant feeling... ;Joyful

 

[gaki]

Ha! That sounds just like something a clown would do. Clowns (pigs/goats of the sea) will go through a lot of effort just for a single piece of food and they're actually pretty smart, so urs might recognize that ur sand sifter is getting food and he's just tryin to get a piece of the action

mine will basically wedge her face into her anemone's mouth to try to get at the food it just ate which means I have to try to distract her until the nem is done eating or keep the turkey baster in the tank to ward her off...

good luck getting a video and happy reefing!