Lifespan of gobies

[Julie]

I read somewhere gobies only live 2 years, how long has everyones goby lived for?

I've had mine for about 3 months now and is doing well.

tx

[fender316]

my sister's tank is getting close to 2 years old, she's had her goby from the start

[gvv]

Nice question you asked!
I could not find the lifespan data for lot of my fish as well. It is nearly impossible to get the lifespan of wild fish and the wild-caught fish in your tank... who knows how old is it now? So this data can be gathered only from experience of other hobbyst. And only by comparison. Try to remember when you got this guy and start counting at least from that moment.

Regards

[kennyman]

I could not find good info about life expectancy either when I looked around for my clown fish. This may be a worhtwhile project for the SW people at ovas. A nice littel chart of typical life expectancy for Captive SW Fish.

[Julie]

I did read clownfish live a long time - over 20 years with the proper care.

As mentionned, how do we know how old they are when we obtain them, only way to know for sure is if it was tank bred.
True percs get fuller black stripes as they age.

[kennyman]

Nemo was just developing his third stripe when I got him so he was still young. I'll let you know in 20 years how he did 

I see your points with wild caught fish though. If its an adult when its caught then predicting captive lifespan is impossible.

[mseguin]

Well it is possible to detemrine age using scales.

[Julie]

Please explain scales Matt?

[mseguin]

Using ring patterns on scales. A couple of my friends worked on projects involving building growth curves for pike and sunfish, and they used scales to determine age.

[babblefish1960]

Good point Matt, the scale is like a finger print, and just like a cross section of a trees rings, the scales show rings too, the trick is getting your eye close enough to the glass to count the rings as they scoot past.

[Julie]

Thanks, very interesting.

My yellow tail is turning grey and his tail is fading to white.  A sure sign of age on this damsel, will check out his scales this morning with my morning coffee.

[Rudy00]

I think it might be hard to identify scale rings in the fish as its alive or with out a scale sample..
its kinda like trying to count tree rings on a moving tree, is it not?

[mseguin]

Moving tree? Oh my goodness the trees are comnig for us! 

[babblefish1960]

It must be the ents. Watch your toes, they lumber about indiscriminately.

LOL, Yes, you will need a scale sample, you can't actually read scales on a moving fish unless you're a remora or a fluke.

[Julie]

What does each scale represent?  He's got alot of scales and they are very evident.

[Rudy00]

its individual growth rings on each scale themselves i believe