Spotted Mandarin Dragonet

Care at a glance

Overview

A peaceful, slow bottom forager with the same demanding pod-based diet as the green mandarin, which makes it an expert-level fish. Success depends on a well established tank rich in live copepods and amphipods, usually backed by a refugium or regular pod dosing. Captive-bred or frozen-trained individuals are much easier and strongly preferred over wild fish that eat only live pods. It is fully reef safe with corals and inverts, but keep only one male per tank because males fight.

In the wild

The spotted mandarin lives on the same kind of sheltered inshore reefs and rubble zones as the green mandarin, patrolling the sand and rock all day to pick off amphipods and copepods. It is a slow, methodical bottom grazer. It needs a mature reef with a large amount of live rock and live sand supporting a dense pod population, and a refugium helps keep that food supply topped up. It stays close to the substrate and rarely enters open water.

Good to know

Synchiropus picturatus is told apart from the green mandarin by its bold green, blue-ringed target spots (ocelli) on a darker background rather than maze-like stripes. Like its relative it has no scales and produces a thick, foul-tasting mucus coat that deters parasites and predators. Males grow larger and carry a taller first dorsal fin.

Did you know

The blue in a mandarin comes from a rare true blue pigment in its skin cells rather than the structural coloration most fish use, so the spotted mandarin is one of very few animals that manufactures its own blue color.

Related species

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  Green Mandarin Dragonet

  Synchiropus splendidus

  3.1 in (8 cm)29 gal (110 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Ruby Red Dragonet

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• 

  Scooter Dragonet

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• 

  Disco Blenny

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• 

  Rainford's Goby

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• 

  Red Sea Mimic Blenny

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