NEWS103
38
Lexicon
Dragonets
Synchiropus:means“withhandand
foot”.
marmoratus:means“marbled”.
picturatus:means“painted”.
splendidus:means“brilliant”,
“splendid”.
stellatus:means“covered in stars”.
Callionymus:means“witha
beautiful name”.
lyra:means“lyre”(anancient
musical instrument)
enneactis:means“withnine rays”.
ThePsychedelicFish,
Synchiropuspicturatus
, threateningmale.
TheStarryDragonet,
Synchiropus stellatus
,variant fromSri Lanka.
Another variant of
S.stellatus
males are completely intolerant of one
another.
Maintenance
Mandarinfishes are best kept in pairs,
because then you canenjoy these splendid
little jewels to the full in the aquarium, as
their behavior is very varied and they will
also spawn regularly in the aquarium.
Spawning takes place in the evening.
Unfortunately it is extremely difficult to
collect the spawn, as the species has been
bred successfully in the aquarium, even for
several generations, although eggs and
larvae are very tiny. Mandarinfishes don’t
practiceanybroodcare,theeggsand larvae
arepelagic, ie they float free in thewater.
The little Mandarinfish, which isn’t a very
activeswimmer,canreadilybemaintained in
smallmarineaquaria.
Whysocolorful?
These small and largely defenseless fishes
(some dragonets do, however, have spines
on theoperculum, for example
Callionymus
lyra
,which lives intheNorthSea;the“sting”is
said to be painful andmay be poisonous)
canafford tobe immenselycolorfulbecause
theyhaveanunpleasant-tastingskinpoison
thatmakesthemunattractivetothemajority
ofpiscivores.
Slow feeders
In principle Mandarinfishes are perfect
aquarium fishes,as theyaren’tsusceptible to
disease, remain small, are very colorful,
exhibit interesting behavior, and leave
invertebrates alone. But – there is always
somethingorother– theyareveryslowand
circumspect feeders. HenceMandarinfishes
shouldn’tbekept in thecompanyofgreedy
feeders, as otherwise theywill gohungry in
theshortor longterm.Theyarebestfedonce
a day with a large portion of live
Artemia
nauplii
,whichareeasyenough tohatch,and
twice dailywith other foods. Frozen food is
taken readily,andmany individualswill also
