Skip to main content
Mandarinfish

Identity card

Mandarinfish

Scientific name:
Synchiropus splendidus
Family:
Callionymidae
Class:
Actinopterygii
Phylum:
Chordata
Year of description:
Herre, 1927
IUCN Status:
Least Concern
Distribution:

Indo-Pacific (Japan, Indonesia, Australia and New Caledonia)

Habitat:

It lives in the warm waters of the Pacific.

Size:

It measures up to 7 cm; the male is larger than the female.

Diet:

Small invertebrates (marine worms and small crustaceans)

Mandarinfish

Where can I find it at Nausicaá?

MANKIND AND SHORES

Island Stories

Did you know?

This fish gets its name from the Chinese mandarins with their colourful traditional costumes. It is also called the mandarin dragonet.
It belongs to the dragonet family and therefore, is related to the redback dragonet.

The mandarin fish moves by waving its pectoral fins. 

Mandarinfish
 
 
 

It spends most of its time eating by pecking on corals

 
 
 

Where is the animal to be found?

Rocky areas, along the coastline, lagoons, coral reefs or sheltered lagoons, down to a depth of 18 metres. It spends most of its time eating by pecking on corals. It does not swim in open water but stays close to spiny sea urchins and hard corals in which it hides.
It can be found at depths down to 18 metres in the rocky areas of tropical lagoons, in coral reefs or in sheltered lagoons. It can also be found along the coastline. 

How can it be recognised?

The mandarinfish has a triangular head, large protruding eyes and prominent lips.

However, it is most recognisable for its bright colours. Its colourful coat has a brown or orange base and green and blue sinuous stripes. You can also see yellow patches. The patterns vary from one fish to another. According to observations, during the breeding season, males are more colourful than females.
Males can be distinguished from females by the first spine on their dorsal fin. It is twice as large in males as in females. When not erect, it is folded over the back of the mandarinfish and can reach its tail fin.

What is distinctive about it?

The skin of the mandarinfish does not have scales. It is covered with a thick mucus that protects it from bacteria.
It seems that this mucus acts as a repellent against its predators: it contains toxins. Furthermore, the intense colours often act as a warning to predators and indicate the toxicity of an animal...which keeps predators away.

The Ocean Mag

Browse through our Ocean Mag

A la une

A treaty on biodiversity in the high seas

Nearly 70 states gathered at the United Nations in New York have already signed the international treaty on the protection of the high seas.

banc de mérous ile de malpelo

Article

What to do on the Opal Coast when it’s raining?

The Opal Coast is a destination reputed for its variety of water sports and nature activities, but what’s there to do in the region when it rains?

Article

Activities and water sports to be enjoyed near Nausicaá

In the Boulogne area, and all along the Opal Coast, water sports are legion.