Mandarin dragonet- Mandarinfish is among the most desirable species to marine aquarium hobbyists worldwide and is in the top 20 marine aquarium fish
Mandarin dragonet, also called as Mandarinfish and its scientific name Synchiropus splendidus, is among the most desirable species to marine aquarium hobbyists worldwide and is in the top 20 marine aquarium fish species imported to the United States.
MANDARIN DRAGONET - MANDARINFISH DESCRIPTION
Mandarin dragonet is distributed in the tropical western Pacific. This species inhabits in shallow coral reefs at 0-18 metres in depth. It tends to stay directly on the reef bottom, usually on sandy or silty substrate, where it perches on rocks and sand.
Synchiropus splendidus can grow up to 9 cm in length and can live for 10 to 15 years in the wild. It has unusual shape with a broad head with a beautiful texture of orange wavy lines with bright blue background. Although it has yellow, purple and green color but blue and orange is the extent color of fish, which make her more attractive.
It is the only fish, which has no scale on her body, has its own colorful textures. The blue hued color in her body tends to elaborate optical illusion to brighten the body. It has many layers of colorless crystals in her skin, which reflect blue color back at the looker, which make her more attractive because of his blue reflection.
Distinguishing between sexes is quite easy. Males can be distinguished from females by their more elongated first dorsal spine and bulkier stature.
MANDARIN DRAGONET - MANDARINFISH CARE
Mandarin dragonet needs a tank of minimum 20 gallons with water temperature of 24-26 °C, pH level of 8.0-8.4 and specific gravity of 1.020-1.025. Best to have either a single fish per tank or a male/ female pair. It may bury in the substrate at night or when threatened, therefore a soft sand bed is best. Provide with ample hiding places.
Mandarinfish is an extremely docile and friendly fish, so it should not be kept with aggressive species. They will ignore other fish species, but males will attack other males, and related Synchiropus picturatus males. Also ensure that tankmates are not out-competing this fish at feeding time.
Synchiropus splendidus are slow and methodical feeders. In the wild, they primarily feed in between rocks, selecting small organisms such as copepods and amphipods. When introduced into a home aquarium, this species can at first be finicky feeders, so it is recommended to regularly feed them live brine shrimp. If they’re introduced into in a well-established reef tank, this will provide plenty of opportunity to feed on the small invertebrates that naturally occur in any thriving reef tank. While feeding on live foods, they can then be gradually switched to frozen foods.
It is best to feed in 2 or 3 spots around the tank to reduce the chances of the fish missing out on food. Alternatively you can offer food directly to your fish by using a long pipette or turkey baster.
When being netted and removed from the water, this fish most often releases the thick, noxious slime film for protection. Whenever possible, it is best to move this fish by catching it in a cup or container that is submerged in the water, keeping the fish wet at all times to help avoid this problem.
MANDARIN DRAGONET - MANDARINFISH SPAWNING
Mandarin dragonet is a pelagic-spawner and has been considered as a relatively hard-to-breed species due to its adults generally feeding on live small crustaceans, hence this species is difficult to maintain under captive condition.
Females spawn once per night or every several days. Spawning occurs at dusk, when the mating pair rises to the surface and release buoyant eggs. Females produce 12-205 pelagic eggs. Within 8-9 days of hatching, juveniles settle on the reef, staying in a small area for at least one month. Newly hatched larvae of this species is among the smallest larvae of marine fish, on average only 1.5 mm. The high vulnerability of pre-feeding larvae to handling stress and advent environmental conditions make their rearing even more difficult.
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