11/20/2025
Meet the Sirajo Goby — the Caribbean’s tiniest waterfall daredevil. 🐟✨
This fish leaves the tropical ocean to tackle a rushing cascade…and yes, it literally crawls up vertical waterfalls to mate.
Armed with a sucker-like pelvic disc and more determination than seems reasonable for a creature this small, each goby begins an uphill journey that would make even seasoned professional climbers say “nope.” Some make it all the way. Many…well…succumb to the powerful waterfall and plunge to their death.
I painted this little adventurer for a NOAA Fisheries technical paper — a watercolor tribute to a species that proves science is full of surprises, courage comes in tiny packages, and gravity remains undefeated.
Side note: Research was a challenge for this illustration since peer reviewed morphological information is minimal, the most recent is from 1961 by and NOAA helped me track down and verify with current goby experts.
A few other cute fun facts that I find endearing: In Puerto Rico they go by the name of “olibo” or “chupa piedra” (rock hopper). The Cuban name is “Sirajo”, in Jamaica it is “ticky-ticky” and in Haiti “tilagal.” This fish would be a perfect hero for a kids book!
