White Cheek Goby

About

This is the goby most people actually buy when they think they are buying a scarlet one. Most Rhinogobius reaching importers are sold under the blanket name white cheek gobies, and the confusion runs both ways: this is the fish that name properly belongs to, and it is also the fish nobody in the supply chain can pin down. Retailers who care write it as Rhinogobius cf. duospilus — the 'cf.' is an admission that the identification is provisional — and price it at $15–20 against $35 for a male scarlet goby. The reason nobody is certain is that the R. duospilus complex is what shops mostly see, and it takes in R. changtinensis, R. genanematus, R. henryi, R. lungowensis, R. ponkouensis, R. sulcatus and R. wangei alongside duospilus itself. They are still often sold as R. wui, the old name for this species, and a single import can consist of several species. Two features separate it from the scarlet goby with the fish in front of you. First the cheek: every member of the complex has oblique stripes across the cheek in adult males, where an adult male scarlet goby is diagnosed by the complete absence of pigment on the cheek and the branchiostegal membrane. Second the size: this fish reaches 6.2 cm standard length against the scarlet goby's 3.6 cm, so a goby over 5 cm is not the expensive one, whatever the label says. Colour is no help at all. A genome study published in 2026 found the populations so fragmented, headwater by headwater, that body colour polymorphism is the most conspicuous sign of their genetic divergence — which is another way of saying two fish from neighbouring streams can look like two species. What is not in dispute is the kind of animal it is: a bottom-dwelling stream fish from subtropical creeks in southern China and Vietnam, holding station on rock with pelvic fins fused into a suction disc, feeding on small invertebrates and being fed on in turn. Unlike the amphidromous members of the genus it never goes to sea — the whole Chinese complex is landlocked. That is why it can be bred in an aquarium at all, while the Stiphodon gobies sold on the shelf beside it cannot.

Care

Cool, hard, fast water over stones — not a tropical community fish. Published ranges run 15–25 °C and 16–26 °C, pH 7.0–7.5 to 7.0–8.0, and GH 12–16; the genus prefers cool water and does not tolerate high temperatures. Unheated at 18–22 °C in a normally warm room it thrives; at 26 °C for the tetras it declines slowly. Flow and oxygen are not optional — a strong current is appreciated and a filter powerful enough to make the water turbulent is part of the specification, not decoration. Floor the tank with fine sand and flat stones, plus gravel and small pebbles with rocks bedded into the substrate, because the male excavates a nest under a stone and both sexes shift gravel around in their mouths and spit it elsewhere. Fifty centimetres of length is the bare floor and sixty is the ideal minimum; take the sixty. Keep a harem, one male to two or three females — this is not a shoaling fish, and two males in a small tank spend the spawning season on each other. Fit a lid: they stick to glass with the pelvic disc. Tankmates: danios, Microdevario, Tanichthys and hillstream loaches such as Sewellia and Gastromyzon, all of which cope with 20–22 °C. Not dwarf shrimp you would miss — some keepers lose them and some do not — not fry of anything, and not a heated community. Breeding is genuinely achievable: the male guards 10 to 50 eggs on the ceiling of his cave and they hatch in about two weeks. The adults then eat the fry, so move somebody.

Diet

Opportunistic small-invertebrate carnivore. Frozen or live bloodworm, mosquito larvae, Artemia, Daphnia and mysis; some individuals take sinking tablets, none should live on dry food alone. Shrimp survival is a coin toss and fry are not.

Telling males from females

What works for this species, most reliable first.

• Colour and patternA hint only · from about 6 months, and only on a settled fish

  In rainbowfish, killifish and several barbs the male carries the colour — deeper and more saturated, intensifying further when he displays.

Also in these lists

Similar species

Same category and the closest water parameters — if this species isn't quite it, start here.

Sold in Lithuania

These Lithuanian shops listed this species in their public catalogue (checked August 8, 2026). Stock moves — ask before you travel.

These links are unpaid: we get nothing for them and ask for nothing.

Frequently asked questions

What tank size does a White Cheek Goby need?

A White Cheek Goby needs an aquarium of at least 60 litres (15.9 US gallons) with a footprint at least 60 cm (23.6 in) long — for this species, swimming length matters as much as raw volume.

What water parameters does a White Cheek Goby need?

White Cheek Goby does best at 15–26 °C (59–78.8 °F), pH 6.5–8 and a general hardness of 5–18 °dGH.

What group size does a White Cheek Goby need?

White Cheek Goby is a social species — keep a group of at least 3 so natural behaviour emerges and stress stays low.

Is the White Cheek Goby suitable for beginners?

White Cheek Goby sits in the middle of the difficulty scale — manageable for a careful beginner who has done the reading, but it has specific needs worth researching first.

Sources

• FishBase — Rhinogobius duospilus (Herre, 1935)
• G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics — High-quality genome assembly and annotation of the white-cheeked goby, Rhinogobius duospilus (Herre, 1935) (Gobiiformes: Oxudercidae)
• AquaInfo — Rhinogobius duospilus – Witwang gobius
• Practical Fishkeeping — How to keep Rhinogobius gobies (September 2009)
• Seriously Fish — Rhinogobius zhoui (Li & Zhong, 2009)
• Seriously Fish — Rhinogobius rubromaculatus (Red-spotted Goby)
• The Wet Spot Tropical Fish — Rhinogobius cf. duospilus "White Cheek Goby"
• Tropical Fish Hobbyist — The Chinese Vermilion Goby (Stan Sung)