---
title: Shadow Goby (Yongeichthys nebulosus)
scientific_name: Yongeichthys nebulosus
common_name: Shadow Goby
taxon: Gobies
published: 2026-08-08T14:32:23.477Z
updated: 2026-08-08T15:27:45.924Z
tags: Shadow Goby, Yongeichthys nebulosus, Gobies, Red Sea, Marine Life, Diving
url: https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/gobies/shadow-goby
---

# Shadow Goby (*Yongeichthys nebulosus*)

## Quick facts

- **Group:** Gobies (*Gobiidae*)
- **Size:** up to 15 cm
- **Depth:** 0-15 m
- **Diet:** Carnivore
- **Activity:** Nocturnal
- **Rarity:** Uncommon
- **Habitat:** Silty sand and estuarine shallows
- **Reproduction:** Egg layer, Gonochoric
- **Hazard:** Poisonous

## How to recognise it

- mottled grey-brown with dark blotches along the flank
- blunt head, body thickest just behind the gills
- sits still on silty bottoms, often half-buried
- length up to 15 cm

A blunt-headed goby of about 15 cm (6 in), mottled grey-brown with dark blotches along the flank, sitting motionless on silty sand and estuarine shallows where it is very nearly invisible until it moves.

It is worth knowing for a reason that has nothing to do with identification. Gobies of this genus carry tetrodotoxin, the pufferfish compound, in their flesh and organs, and the closely related shadow goby of the western Pacific has caused human poisonings, including fatal ones. Which species is involved in a given case is not always clear - the two are near-identical and have been confused in the literature for decades - so the sensible reading is that the genus is not food. Nothing about it is dangerous underwater; the toxin acts when eaten. Forsskål described it from this coast in 1775, and older records use the name Acentrogobius. It feeds at night on small crustaceans and worms, and by day does nothing at all, which is most of what makes it hard to find.

## Also known as

- **English:** Hair-finned Goby, Hairfin Goby, shadow goby
- **Arabic:** قوبيون الظل
- **Japanese:** ツムギハゼ, Tsumugihaze
- **Chinese:** 雲斑裸頰鰕虎
- **Russian:** Бычок туманный
- **TGL:** Bunak
- **TH:** ปลาบู่ลายเมฆ

## Scientific synonyms

- *Acentrogobius nebulosus* (Forsskål, 1775)
- *Ctenogobius nebulosus* (Forsskål, 1775)
- *Ctenogobius petersenii* (Steindachner, 1866)
- *Gobius auchenotaenia* Bleeker, 1867
- *Gobius baliuroides* Bleeker, 1849
- *Gobius brevifilis* Valenciennes, 1837
- *Gobius caninus africanus* Playfair, 1867
- *Gobius caninus var. africana* Playfair, 1867
- *Gobius criniger decaryi* Pellegrin, 1932
- *Gobius festivus* De Vis, 1884
- *Gobius nebulosus* Forsskål, 1775
- *Gobius petersii* Steindachner, 1866
- *Rhinogobius baliuroides* (Bleeker, 1849)
- *Rhinogobius lungi* Jordan & Seale, 1907
- *Rhinogobius nebulosus* (Forsskål, 1775)

## Range

Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania

---

*Source: [Red Sea Creatures](https://redseacreatures.com/taxon/fishes/bony-fishes/gobies/shadow-goby)*
*Updated: August 8, 2026*