Building on the past success and knowledge of Julian Sprung, Wolfgang Mai and Matt Wittenrich, ORA has announced the commercial availability of the Mandarin Goby–both the Blue Splendid (Synchiropus splendidus) and Target Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus) will be offered for sale. The once near impossible to keep fish has been successfully captive bred en masse and [...]
Building on the past success and knowledge of Julian Sprung, Wolfgang Mai and Matt Wittenrich, ORA has announced the commercial availability of the Mandarin Goby–both the Blue Splendid (Synchiropus splendidus) and Target Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus) will be offered for sale. The once near impossible to keep fish has been successfully captive bred en masse and aquarists will be able to get their hands on these sustainable beauties this Summer.
ORA states that upon their initial release “significant numbers of Spotted Mandarins available this summer,” while “Blue and Red Mandarins will be available in more limited quantities”.
This is a historic first for our hobby and will hopefully ensure aquarists of all experience levels achieve long term success with these beautiful species. ORA has said that all the captive raised fish are eating frozen prepared foods, but they hope to wean them on to dry pellets. For those attending the Global Pet Expo in Orlando this week, ORA will have some juveniles on display. See the full press release below.
ORA Press Release
March 25, 2010
ORA Announces Captive Bred Mandarins
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. Retailers attending this week’s Global Pet Expo in Orlando will be able to see our tank bred Mandarins at the ORA Booth #1773.
