Bluespotted Jawfish

About

The bluespotted jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti) is a small, personable fish native to the Gulf of California, where it lives in large social colonies along the seafloor. It's a mouthbrooder with charming daily rituals. Each evening it pulls material over its burrow entrance to seal itself in for the night, then spends part of the morning rebuilding and tidying the opening again. Watching this routine play out in a home aquarium is genuinely entertaining, and it's one of the behaviors that makes jawfish such rewarding fish to keep. In the wild it feeds on small invertebrates, both those crawling along the bottom and those drifting in the water column, so a varied diet works well in captivity. Like other jawfish, it needs a deep sand bed with some rubble material to construct and maintain its burrow. Skip that and you're working against the fish's most fundamental instincts. Housed correctly, though, it's a reasonable choice for someone newer to reef keeping. Adults stay compact, the species isn't particularly aggressive, and the colony-living background means it generally tolerates tankmates well. Just make sure your aquarium has a secure lid, because jawfish are confident jumpers.