Fairy Wrassler
New member
Gday,
We have recently noticed what looks suspiciously like courtship activity in our pair of scooter dragonets (Synchiropus ocellatus). I have hunted around and can find precious little breeding information on these fish and thought I would appeal to the collective wisdom here.
My initial thought was that they would be the same as the green mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) and have read the excellent account of breeding attempts by mwp in another thread in this forum. If anyone has not read this thread, I strongly recommend it Read it here
There are however several major differences in their dancing when compared to mwp's excellent video of their courtship dance and spawning. I managed to get some video of my dragonets, nowhere near as good, but enough to get the idea. Too much light upset them so it was done by some low-level red light. I edited as best I can
They are about 6 months old by my best guess - they were tiny when we got them. She does not seem swollen with eggs, as mandarins are often described, so perhaps they are just testing, learning the behaviours, etc?
To view the video, press the Play button on the control bar that you see below. In testing I sometimes had to press the button twice.
Stage 1: Swimming around and fin flashing
Firstly, they swim around on the substrate together, linking pectoral fins and flashing their dorsal fins. This lasts for about 20-30 mins (we think).
<p align="center">
<object id="MediaPlayer1" width="492" height="492" classid="CLSID:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"
codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,0,02,902"
standby="Loading Microsoft Windows Media Player components..." type="application/x-oleobject">
<param name="FileName" value="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test1.mpg">
<param name="animationatStart" value="true">
<param name="transparentatStart" value="true">
<param name="autoStart" value="false">
<param name="showControls" value="true">
******* type="application/x-mplayer2" pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/MediaPlayer/" Name="MediaPlayer" src="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test1.mpg" AutoStart="false" ShowStatusBar="0" volume="-1" HEIGHT="482" WIDTH="492"></embed></object></p align="center"><br><br>
Stage 2: Small forays toward the surface
They then do some small test swims together. This also lasts for about 20-30 mins.
<p align="center">
<object id="MediaPlayer1" width="492" height="492" classid="CLSID:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"
codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,0,02,902"
standby="Loading Microsoft Windows Media Player components..." type="application/x-oleobject">
<param name="FileName" value="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test2.mpg">
<param name="animationatStart" value="true">
<param name="transparentatStart" value="true">
<param name="autoStart" value="false">
<param name="showControls" value="true">
******* type="application/x-mplayer2" pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/MediaPlayer/" Name="MediaPlayer" src="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test2.mpg" AutoStart="false" ShowStatusBar="0" volume="-1" HEIGHT="482" WIDTH="492"></embed></object></p align="center"><br><br>
Stage 3: Larger loops toward the surface
They the swim in larger loops together. This does not look like the runs towards the suface that I have seen in footage of S. splendidus spawning. It appears more complex and they tend not to go anywhere near the surface (in this clip, a maximum of about 6" from the bottom in a 2' deep tank).
<p align="center">
<object id="MediaPlayer1" width="492" height="492" classid="CLSID:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"
codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,0,02,902"
standby="Loading Microsoft Windows Media Player components..." type="application/x-oleobject">
<param name="FileName" value="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test3.mpg">
<param name="animationatStart" value="true">
<param name="transparentatStart" value="true">
<param name="autoStart" value="false">
<param name="showControls" value="true">
******* type="application/x-mplayer2" pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/MediaPlayer/" Name="MediaPlayer" src="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test3.mpg" AutoStart="false" ShowStatusBar="0" volume="-1" HEIGHT="482" WIDTH="492"></embed></object></p align="center"><br><br>
I did read somewhere that they have a "patch" of eggs about 2 cm in diameter but this seems to be unlikey. I think it is more likely that they would spawn more like others of their species, but there is little information. I think they may be too young to spawn. Whatever their motivation, it is one of the most amazing and heartwarming things I have seen in a tank. Any advice or knowledge that anyone has concerning this behaviour or potentially breeding them will be greatly appreciated.
TIA
FW
We have recently noticed what looks suspiciously like courtship activity in our pair of scooter dragonets (Synchiropus ocellatus). I have hunted around and can find precious little breeding information on these fish and thought I would appeal to the collective wisdom here.
My initial thought was that they would be the same as the green mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) and have read the excellent account of breeding attempts by mwp in another thread in this forum. If anyone has not read this thread, I strongly recommend it Read it here
There are however several major differences in their dancing when compared to mwp's excellent video of their courtship dance and spawning. I managed to get some video of my dragonets, nowhere near as good, but enough to get the idea. Too much light upset them so it was done by some low-level red light. I edited as best I can
They are about 6 months old by my best guess - they were tiny when we got them. She does not seem swollen with eggs, as mandarins are often described, so perhaps they are just testing, learning the behaviours, etc?
To view the video, press the Play button on the control bar that you see below. In testing I sometimes had to press the button twice.
Stage 1: Swimming around and fin flashing
Firstly, they swim around on the substrate together, linking pectoral fins and flashing their dorsal fins. This lasts for about 20-30 mins (we think).
<p align="center">
<object id="MediaPlayer1" width="492" height="492" classid="CLSID:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"
codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,0,02,902"
standby="Loading Microsoft Windows Media Player components..." type="application/x-oleobject">
<param name="FileName" value="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test1.mpg">
<param name="animationatStart" value="true">
<param name="transparentatStart" value="true">
<param name="autoStart" value="false">
<param name="showControls" value="true">
******* type="application/x-mplayer2" pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/MediaPlayer/" Name="MediaPlayer" src="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test1.mpg" AutoStart="false" ShowStatusBar="0" volume="-1" HEIGHT="482" WIDTH="492"></embed></object></p align="center"><br><br>
Stage 2: Small forays toward the surface
They then do some small test swims together. This also lasts for about 20-30 mins.
<p align="center">
<object id="MediaPlayer1" width="492" height="492" classid="CLSID:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"
codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,0,02,902"
standby="Loading Microsoft Windows Media Player components..." type="application/x-oleobject">
<param name="FileName" value="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test2.mpg">
<param name="animationatStart" value="true">
<param name="transparentatStart" value="true">
<param name="autoStart" value="false">
<param name="showControls" value="true">
******* type="application/x-mplayer2" pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/MediaPlayer/" Name="MediaPlayer" src="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test2.mpg" AutoStart="false" ShowStatusBar="0" volume="-1" HEIGHT="482" WIDTH="492"></embed></object></p align="center"><br><br>
Stage 3: Larger loops toward the surface
They the swim in larger loops together. This does not look like the runs towards the suface that I have seen in footage of S. splendidus spawning. It appears more complex and they tend not to go anywhere near the surface (in this clip, a maximum of about 6" from the bottom in a 2' deep tank).
<p align="center">
<object id="MediaPlayer1" width="492" height="492" classid="CLSID:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95"
codebase="http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,0,02,902"
standby="Loading Microsoft Windows Media Player components..." type="application/x-oleobject">
<param name="FileName" value="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test3.mpg">
<param name="animationatStart" value="true">
<param name="transparentatStart" value="true">
<param name="autoStart" value="false">
<param name="showControls" value="true">
******* type="application/x-mplayer2" pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/MediaPlayer/" Name="MediaPlayer" src="http://users.cyberone.com.au/smitti/Test3.mpg" AutoStart="false" ShowStatusBar="0" volume="-1" HEIGHT="482" WIDTH="492"></embed></object></p align="center"><br><br>
I did read somewhere that they have a "patch" of eggs about 2 cm in diameter but this seems to be unlikey. I think it is more likely that they would spawn more like others of their species, but there is little information. I think they may be too young to spawn. Whatever their motivation, it is one of the most amazing and heartwarming things I have seen in a tank. Any advice or knowledge that anyone has concerning this behaviour or potentially breeding them will be greatly appreciated.
TIA
FW
