Description
The Spotted Mandarin Dragonet, Synchiropus picturatus, is a popular aquarium fish known for its vibrant colors and peaceful nature. It's best kept as a pair, with a single male and female, though they can also live alone or in small, loose groups. They are often solitary, spending much of their time near the substrate or rocks in their natural habitat.
Key aspects of keeping a Synchiropus picturatus pair:
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Pairing: A male and female pair is ideal, as they can live peacefully together.
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Size: They can grow up to 8cm in length.
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Tank Size: A minimum of 100 liters is recommended for a single specimen, with larger tanks needed for pairs or groups.
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Diet: They are carnivorous and primarily feed on live microfauna like amphipods and copepods, which need to be present in sufficient numbers in the tank.
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Tank Mates: Peaceful fish, seahorses, pipefish, and other small fish are good tank mates. They are not compatible with highly aggressive or competitive fish.
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Aquarium Setup: They require a well-established aquarium with plenty of live rock for grazing and hiding, and a sandy bottom.
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Temperament: They are generally peaceful and do not harm corals or invertebrates.
The picturesque dragonet (Synchiropus picturatus) is a brightly colored member of the dragonet family native to the Indo-West Pacific: Philippines, eastern Indonesia and northwest Australia. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade, where it is commonly known as the spotted mandarin, psychedelic mandarin or target mandarin.
Description
The picturesque dragonet may grow to a size of 7 cm in length. They have thick slime on their skin that inhibits many types of parasitic infection and minimizes the risk of disease following stress or physical trauma. This seems to help protect them from some other more aggressive fish.
Synchiropus picturatus is one of only two vertebrates known to have blue colouring because of cellular pigment, the other being the closely related Synchiropus splendidus. 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.
This species is quite harmless to humans and is quite peaceful with other species. The Picturesque dragonet is a marine animal that naturally lives at a temperature between 24-28 C.
