Range: Western Indian Ocean: Red Sea and Persian Gulf, Maldives, also the Pacific Ocean: Philippines to the Tuamotu Islands, north to Yaeyama Islands, and south to the Great Barrier Reef and Guam in Micronesia

Size: Up to 3 inches (7 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabit muddy and fine sand bottom areas in inshore bays and lagoons

General Husbandry: Has a temperature range of 72 - 82°F (22 - 28°C) and their natural diet consists mainly of small benthic invertebrate. They feed by taking mouthfuls of sand and sifting out benthic invertebrates and organic matter. Requires a meaty diet, i.e., enriched brine shrimp, mysis, finely chopped fish or shrimp flesh, and other various frozen carnivore foods, with one or two feedings per day. They should be housed in aquariums with a sandbed of at least two inches in depth and not housed with aggressive fishes such as groupers, dottybacks, triggerfishes or angelfishes. Small sinking enriched shrimp meal pellets are an excellent way of keeping them well fed.

Aquarium Suitability: *