El Niño Compendium
Blue-banded Goby
Range status
North of rangeRarity this season
RareSeen past the published northern limit of its range.
Primary biome
Secondary biomes
Sightings
2026 season, every one sourced
Central California
- Oct 26, 2026MontereySource: iNaturalist 411054971
- Oct 24, 2026Wharf II, MontereyThe diver's "first time outside of SoCal"Source: Diver post via Jarvis, Oct 24
- Oct 22, 2026MontereySource: iNaturalist 410330380
Photos
From California this season
No photos yet. If you photographed this animal in California this season, post it to the Coastal Bulletin.
Home Range
Where it normally lives
Morro Bay south; a minority of sources say Monterey Bay.
Range source: Ichthyopedia dossier: blue-banded goby
Habitat
Open rock faces on reef with crevices to retreat into, from the shallows to about 250 feet. Concentrated around Catalina Island and the Channel Islands
Taxonomy
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Gobiiformes
Family
Gobiidae
Genus / Species
Lythrypnus dalli
Family, common name
Gobies
Rarity
Rarity this season
Rare
Reports this season
3
Conservation status
Least Concern (assessed 2024)
Rarity in the compendium is how often the animal has been reported on the California coast this season, not how rare it is where it normally lives. It moves as new sightings come in.
Full Species Profile
The blue-banded goby has a full Ichthyopedia entry with its natural history, seasonality and where to find it in a normal year.
Read the Blue-banded Goby entry →