Dragonet - Spotted Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus)

The colouration on these fish is simply outstanding. They have mint green bodies with black splotches ringed in vibrant turquoise and neon orange. Their faces are striped with orange and turquoise resembling ancient war paint.

The males of this psychedelic fish species have longer dorsal spines than the females.

Spotted Mandarins are a very resistant species of fish, often found sleeping together next to each other on the same rock night after night.

They live all over the Indo-West Pacific region from the Philippines and Indonesia down to north-western Australia. They're seen along sandy bottoms of shallow reefs and shelter, hidden away, underneath living coral.

Tank Recommendations for the Spotted Mandarin

The smallest tank size for these fish is 120 litres. They are a slow moving species that will generally spend most of their time at the bottom part of the tank looking for food. They prefer slow moving water and you should do your best to recreate their natural environment of sheltered reef bottoms as much as possible. This means adding enough bottom substrate so the spotted mandarin may 'walk' along looking for food and bury itself if it feels stressed. Be sure to provide plenty of corals and rocks on top to give areas for the fish to seek shelter and rest.

Suitable Tank Buddies

Spotted Mandarins are usually peaceful towards all other species of fish but may fight occasionally with other males of the same species. Selected tank buddies should be of a similar size to avoid them over competing for food. Peaceful feeders that consume a different food source would be ideal.

Feeding Your Spotted Mandarin

These fish are carnivorous in the wild and survive on a variety of smaller creatures they come into contact with such as worms, fish eggs and of course copepods. Having a large amount of live rock in your tank will mean the Spotted Mandarin can survive solely on the copepods that it produces. If you find that your tank is on the smaller size and the copepod stocks are being depleted entirely then we do also sell live copepods and rotifers. It is also possible to wean the Mandarin from live foods like brine shrimp onto frozen shrimp. Thaw the frozen food first and introduce it slowly into their diet increasing the amount once your fish gets a taste for it.