Mandarinfish

ID points

• Maze-like pattern of blue, orange and green; no scales
• Rests among reef rubble, crawling propped on its pectoral fins
• Comes out only at dusk; very hard to see by day

Basics

Family

Callionymidae

Length

4–7 cm

Depth

1-18 m

Regions

Indo-Pacific reefs

Distribution

Shallow tropical coral reefs of the western Pacific

Habitat

Rubble patches on shallow coral reefs

Diet

Small bottom-dwelling crustaceans

Easily confused with

FlatwormBody as thin as a sheet of paper, with rippling edgesHarlequin ShrimpLarge purple-red blotches edged in dark on a creamy white groundMantis ShrimpA pair of folded raptorial claws that snap out in an instant

Fun fact

The mandarinfish is one of the very few animals whose skin contains a true blue pigment. Every other blue fish takes its colour from light bouncing off microscopic structures rather than from pigment.