All fish / Callionymidae

Bartels' dragonet

Synchiropus bartelsi

Also known as bartels dragonet, bartel's dragonet, bartelsi dragonet, bartels' mandarin, ocellated dragonet, 巴氏连鳍鳉

A small, cryptically mottled dragonet with fine red and white markings and a tall first dorsal fin that males raise during display. Reef keepers like it for its busy hopping movements across sand and rock, and it is a shy, harmless addition to a mature reef.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Peaceful

Adult size

5 cm

Temperature

24 to 27 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

110 litres

Keep as

Singly or as a mated pair; never two males

Diet

Carnivore: live copepods and amphipods grazed from rock, plus enriched brine shrimp and small frozen foods if it learns to take them

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

2 to 5 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Western Pacific: Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Palau and the Marshall Islands

Breeding

Pairs spawn at dusk, rising together off the bottom to release floating eggs. Larvae are tiny and planktonic, so rearing in home aquariums is very difficult and seldom achieved.

Good to know

Needs a mature tank full of live rock or a refugium producing copepods, because many starve in new or small systems. Males fight each other, and the fish should not be kept with competitive pod eaters such as mandarins or other dragonets.