Blue Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus)

In a significant advancement in Marine Ornamental Aquaculture, ORA recently introduced captive bred Mandarin Dragonets, also known as Mandarin Gobies, to the commercial aquarium market. Mandarins are exquisitely beautiful and highly desired by aquarists, but the wild-caught specimens have a reputation as being difficult to feed and maintain. Those concerns are resolved as ORA Mandarins have been raised on a variety of prepared foods. Hobbyists of all levels can now own and enjoy these easy to keep Mandarin Dragonets thanks to the research and production efforts of ORA.

The Blue Mandarin, also commonly referred to as Green Mandarin, is a member of the family Callionymidae, the Dragonets, and grows to a maximum length of 4”. They originate in the Western Pacific from the Ryukyu Islands to Australia. In the wild they are found on silty bottoms with coral and rubble. In the aquarium, it’s best to provide them with plenty of rockwork in which to hunt and hide.

ORA’s Blue Mandarins exhibit beautiful ribbon-like patterns of royal blue and green, peach and red. They can be kept in mated pairs or singly.

All of ORA’s captive bred mandarins will accept a variety of prepared frozen and dry foods upon acclimation to their new tank. They may be offered Nutramar Ova, finely chopped Hikari Frozen Blood Worms, fish roe, frozen or live baby brine shrimp, frozen daphnia, and New Life SPECTRUM Small Fish Formula pellets. Some have also shown interest in Cyclopeeze. However in a reef tank, they often will default to the naturally occurring live copepods found among live rock.

Synchiropus splendidus is a peaceful fish that will fare best in the established reef tank provided there are no aggressive tank mates that may compete for food.