🐟 one digs · one watches 🦐

GOBY

A pistol shrimp digs the burrow. A goby fish stands guard at the door. When danger comes, one tail flick and they both dive inside.

you're the hungry fish · move closer · click to make the shrimp snap

On the sandy seafloor

Meet the odd couple.

A little goby fish and a pistol shrimp share one home: a burrow in the sand. Neither one would last long out here alone.

The digger

The shrimp can barely see.

The shrimp has poor eyesight, but it's a tireless builder. All day it bulldozes sand and pebbles out of the burrow and keeps the tunnels clean.

The lookout

The goby keeps watch.

The goby has sharp eyes. It sits at the door while the shrimp works, and the shrimp keeps an antenna touching the goby the whole time.

The signal

One tail flick means danger.

When a predator comes close, the goby flicks its tail. The shrimp feels it through its antenna and dives into the burrow, and the goby dives in right after.

Night shift

Home, sweet burrow.

At night they both go inside, and the shrimp often closes the entrance behind them. Tomorrow, same job, same buddy.

goby + pistol shrimp

tap the scene

Under the sand

The shrimp never stops digging.

Scroll down through the sand. The burrow keeps going: tunnels, side rooms and a safe spot deep below, all dug by one shrimp with its claws.

0loads of sand carried out

0 cmof tunnel in this burrow

The entrance. The goby is on duty.

Try it yourself

Try to sneak up.

You're the predator. Move toward the burrow. The goby will spot you, flick its tail, and they'll both dive in just in time. Tap the sand to make the shrimp dig there.

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Small team, big surprises

More than a burrow.

Snap!

A pistol shrimp snaps its big claw so fast that it shoots out a bubble. When the bubble pops, it makes one of the loudest sounds in the sea.

Always in touch

While it works outside, the shrimp keeps an antenna on the goby, so it feels the warning even when it can't see.

Door shut at night

At night, both partners go inside and the shrimp often pushes sand to close the entrance.

Crackling reefs

Snapping shrimp are so common and so loud that their crackling can fill the sea and even get in the way of submarine sonar.

Mini game · 3 lives

You are the goby.

Predators are coming from every side. When one crosses the red ring, tap to flick your tail so you and your shrimp dive in time. Too early and you lose a second of digging. Too late and you get a scare.

0saves

❤❤❤lives

0your best

Tap Start. Then tap the game (or press space) to flick.

Real buddy teams

Every goby has a shrimp.

bright yellow

Yellow watchman goby + tiger pistol shrimp

One of the best-known buddy pairs, popular with aquarium keepers.

orange bands

Randall's goby + Randall's pistol shrimp

A banded goby with a red-and-white striped shrimp.

orange spots

Orange-spotted shrimp goby

A pale goby covered in orange dots, guarding a sandy door.

blue spots

Blue-spotted watchman goby

Big eyes, blue dots and a shrimp that never stops digging.

looking for a buddy

You

Name your goby at the end of the page.

One digs. One watches. Neither makes it alone. Together they have a home, a lookout and a plan. That's a buddy. That's $GOBY.

The live burrow

Dig deeper together.

Name your goby and it takes the door. With every new Solana block, the shrimp digs the burrow a little deeper.

0 cmburrow depth

0Solana blocks since you arrived

not yetyour goby's shift started

0loads of sand carried