ORA announces captive bred mandarin gobies

MedicBMC

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For many years marine aquarium hobbyists have been captivated by the exquisite beauty of Mandarin Gobies (actually Dragonettes). Their popularity, however, is tempered by the fact that they are difficult to feed in captivity and are subject to questionable collection practices in the wild. Unfortunately, most Mandarins succumb to starvation in home aquariums, even with the best intentions and attempts at feeding. Thankfully, all of that is about to change.
ORA biologists have succeeded in developing the methods needed to breed and raise commercial numbers of the two species of Mandarins, the Blue Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) and the Spotted Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus). Building on the early success of breeders such as Julian Sprung, Wolfgang Mai, and more recently Matt Wittenrich, ORA is now poised to have commercially bred Mandarins available to everyone. The significance of this cannot be understated as it is a major advance in marine aquaculture and solves many of the problems associated with keeping these species.

Just as the first captive bred Seahorses were trained to eat frozen foods, ORA has already trained our baby Mandarins to eat commercially available frozen diets. This fact alone makes them easy to feed and care for, and the average aquarist will delight in not having to worry about sources of live food for their finicky eaters. Our goal is to have them soon weaned onto a pellet diet. We expect to have these fish eating pelletized foods before being released for sale.

ORA is the leader in bringing the marine aquarium industry new and exciting aquacultured species. With the addition of Mandarins to our ever-growing list, a major milestone in aquaculture has been achieved. We are sure that our retail customers and hobbyists alike will be elated that captive raised Mandarins are finally available and that a page has been turned in the tragic history of this beloved aquarium fish.

We expect to have significant numbers of Spotted Mandarins available this summer. Blue and Red Mandarins will be available in more limited quantities around the same time.

http://************.com/2010/03/24/...bies-synchiropus-commercially-ora/#more-16704
 
I'm lucky enough to have a mandarin that eats pellets.
I'm happy to hear that soon enough i won't be one of the only ones around.
 
Wow this is so awesome!!! I cant wait to get one and I am sure many others will share the sentimate. :thumbsup:
 
very cool, last I heard a few months ago they were "working" on breeding them. Great to here they have made it this far.
 
Excellent news! My green mandarin eats pellets but took him a while to do so. I have 250 lbs of live rock so he had plenty of pods... but many aquarist aren't successful with these fish in small systems. What ever the increased cost maybe for the ORA vs. wild ones, it will definitely be worth it. Very cool fish indeed.
 
mine just died... i had her for 2 years and a half... maybe i'll pick up a tank raised one when they become available...
 
That is good news. To bad RC eddited the link. Do they really think they are doing a service to their members by doing that?? It just makes it a little harder for those interested to find the information.
 
I'll be first in line. I've spent hundreds on live copepods in my 180 reef and still no luck. Haven't bought on in a long time because I don't want to keep something that won't live. So glad not to see these beautiful creatures perish.
 
i think they've always been a hit and miss for us in the past... i'm surprised that the one i had last me this long... it was the only one i have ever bought... and she was like 5 bucks or something... i miss her...
 
This is awesome news! I have been wanting one but never been able to keep an abundant amount of copepods available in my tank. Sounds like I won't have to worry about that soon!
 

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