Green Mandarin Dragonette

The green mandarin dragonette (Synchiropus splendidus) is a small Indo-Pacific reef fish patterned in swirling green, orange and blue, with a slow hovering swim that makes it look more like a painted ornament than a fish. It is one of the most beautiful animals in the marine trade and one of the easiest to lose. Almost all of the difficulty comes down to food.

Aquarium care

• Adult size is around 7 cm.
• Feeds almost continuously on tiny live copepods and amphipods picked off rock and sand.
• Many specimens never accept frozen or prepared food; plan on the assumption that yours will not.
• Needs a mature, well-established reef with plenty of live rock and a self-sustaining pod population — not a system set up this year.
• Peaceful and slow moving; it will be outcompeted by fast or greedy feeders.
• Does not pick at corals or ornamental invertebrates.

This fish suits an experienced reefkeeper with a mature system, ideally one running a refugium that keeps producing pods. It is a poor choice for a new reef, a small tank, or a tank already holding wrasses and other efficient pod hunters. Ask our staff about feeding before you commit — we would rather talk you out of one than sell you a fish that slowly starves.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is available for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See the rest of the saltwater fish collection.