Head to head
Common Dragonet vs Mandarinfish
Common Dragonet
VS Mandarinfish
The common dragonet and the mandarinfish are both dragonets, a family of small, flat-headed bottom fish, and both are famous for the colours of their males and their courtship dances.
| Common Dragonet | Mandarinfish | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Callionymus lyra | Synchiropus splendidus |
| Relationship | A fellow dragonet, a member of the dragonet family | A fellow dragonet, a member of the dragonet family |
| Size | Males reach around 30 cm in length, while females reach only about 20 cm | Up to about 6 cm, small and slow, hopping along the bottom on its pelvic fins |
| Colour | The male is brightly coloured, with blue and yellow markings and a very long first dorsal fin, while the female is a drab brown | A psychedelic pattern of blue and orange, including a true cellular blue pigment found in very few animals |
| Habitat | Sandy and muddy bottoms in shallow coastal water, often partly buried | Sheltered lagoons and inshore reefs of the western Pacific, from the Ryukyu Islands of Japan to northern Australia |
| Courtship | The male displays his fins in front of the female, and the pair then rise together in the water to release their eggs | At dusk a pair presses together and rises about a metre off the reef, releasing eggs and sperm at the peak before darting down |
| Diet | Small crustaceans, worms, and molluscs found on and in the sand | Tiny copepods, amphipods, worms, snail eggs, and other micro-invertebrates picked off the reef all day |
| Conservation status | Least Concern, widespread and common on sandy coasts of the north-eastern Atlantic | Least Concern, though hard to keep in aquariums |
Common Dragonet vs Mandarinfish: common questions
Are the common dragonet and the mandarinfish related?
Yes, both are dragonets, members of a family of small, flat-headed bottom fish, though one lives in the Atlantic and the other in the western Pacific.
Which one is smaller?
The mandarinfish, which reaches only about 6 cm, while male common dragonets reach around 30 cm.
How do their courtships compare?
Both pairs rise together in open water at the climax of courtship and release their eggs and sperm before returning to the bottom.