The Magical Mandarins

      One of the most interesting but elusive fish in the sea is is Synchiropus splendidus commonly known as the Mandarin Fish. They have intrigued Marine Photographers because of their striking beauty while frustrating them because of the difficulty in capturing good images. This fish, a member of the family Callionymidae (dragonets), is a highly sought after photographic subject due to its exceptional coloration and interesting habits. This article describes how best to optimize photographic chances of capturing this wonderful animal.

      This rarely seen fish occurs on fringing reefs around continental islands and adjacent offshore barrier reefs in both the Indian Ocean and Pacific waters. It lives in sheltered lagoons and generally occurs in groups. Mandarin fish inhabit broken coral bottoms and hence operate mostly under cover. They move in jerky movements pausing occasionally in open spaces but rarely for very long. They ingest small copepods for which they are constantly hunting. The male is larger than the female and has a spiked dorsal fin which is displayed erect when another male is encountered.

Male Mandarin Fish displaying in the presence of another male

Two Male Mandarin Fish circling prior to engaging in a fight

      Female Mandarin Fish, as females in other species, get along, whereas males do not. When males encounter each other they "display" by raising their spiked dorsal fin, hoping to frighten off the other male; but if neither backs off they fight, sometimes to the death. Encounters that result in fights occur more often just prior to the daily mating ritual at dusk. Mandarin fish have a complex social structure and mating system.

Mandarin Fish moving among the broken coral

      Daily, at dusk (exactly at dusk!), for about 10 minutes Mandarin Fish mate. During this mating period, Mandarins are almost, but not quite oblivious to what is going on around them. As long as one exercises reasonable discretion about movement and use of lights, close approach is not difficult. Groups of Mandarins gather together and a male and female pair off, rising into the water column together until the magic moment occurs when the female releases eggs and the male fertilizes them. Research has shown that the larger males are more successful than the smaller males in capturing the interest of a female. I guess for Mandarins that "size does matter". Smaller males have developed a compensating technique of rushing up to mating pairs and releasing sperm hoping for a random fertilization to occur. During mating, Mandarin fish are more vulnerable to predators as they rise into the water column.

Male and Female Mandarin - Final stage of courtship

Male and Female Mandarin Fish in an erotic embrace

      At the magic moment, the male and female quickly releases their embrace leaving the eggs in the water column for dispersion. From beginning their embrace until egg release takes anywhere from 5 to 8 seconds.

      There are two possible lenses which can be used to photograph Mandarin Fish: the 105mm lens and/or the 60 mm lens (50mm lens if using the Nikonos RS). With practice, one can get reasonably close to Mandarin Fish, but manually focusing on them is an effort in futility as they rarely stop long enough for this to occur. In the beginning using the 105 mm len with its longer working distance may be preferable; in the longer run, however, the working distance of the 60 mm lens will be quite adequate.

      Individual fish pictured in their native environment of coral rubble can be captured best if one uses autofocus. Keep in mind that for the most part, these fish are visible only for 3 to 5 seconds before they dart under a piece of coral or into a nook or cranny. Mating behavior is a little easier, but I would again recommend autofocus as this behavior occurs only for about 5 to 8 seconds. If using a spotting light be sure it is relatively dim and diffused rather than bright and highly focused. Be sure that you are within the coupling range of your strobes. Most working distances do not allow setting apertures for maximum depth of field unless using fairly powerful strobes. Due to the nature of the substrate, which has a propensity for causing backscatter, try and light your subject with the edges of your strobe light rather than pointing the strobes directly at the subject.

      I hope this intriguing fish will capture your photographic fancy and you will also fall in love with the "Magical Mandarins".

 All text and images copyright Steven N. Norvich 2001