Mandarinfish

Description:

Is a small, brightly colored member of the dragonet family, which is popular in the saltwater aquarium trade. To 6 cm (2 1/4 in.). Orange with ornate pattern of dark edged green and blue bands and spots and a few yellow line markings on lower head. To date, S. splendidus is one of only two animal species known to have blue colouring because of cellular pigment, the other being the closely related LSD-fish Psychedelic Mandarin (S. picturatus). The name "cyanophore" was proposed for the blue chromatophores, or pigment-containing and light-reflecting cells. In all other known cases, the colour blue comes from thin-film interference from piles of flat, thin and reflecting purine crystals.

Habitat:

The mandarinfish is native to the Pacific, ranging approximately from the Ryukyu Islands south to Australia. Mandarinfish are reef dwellers, preferring sheltered lagoons and inshore reefs. While they are slow-moving and fairly common within their range, they are not easily seen due to their bottom-feeding habit and their small size (reaching only about 6 cm). They feed primarily on small crustaceans and other invertebrates.

Notes:

It is very difficult to make nice pictures of mandarins. First, they only come out of their hiding places in the coral at dusk and on top of that they hide quickly if you illuminate them with flash lights. So you have to be very patient, very still and quickly make the pic when you see them (which is not easy in the dark!). You have to be able tp control your bouyancy all the while. What is nice is to see them mating. I may add a video later on. The female is smaller than the male. They pair and quickly dart up together, releasing the eggs and sperm in a few seconds after which they quickly separate and dart back inside the coral. I don´t know how much appreciated this spotting will be in Noah but is my pleasure to show it since is a very difficult to photograph event. It makes my special spotting for Xmas day!