Mandarinfish

Covered in smelly mucus

Can you see the fish with intense blue fins and a curious orange-and-green pattern on their bodies? Those are mandarinfish. The mandarinfish lives among corals and in shallow lagoons, where they look for food close to the bottom. It eats small animals from the bottom sand.

Both the male and female are very colourful, but the male is often larger and has a defined, elongated fin ray in its dorsal fin. The body of the mandarinfish is covered in a layer of smelly mucus with a bitter taste, protecting the fish from predators. 

Uses its fins to walk on the bottom

The mandarinfish is a shy and rather passive fish. It has long pelvic fins that it uses to walk on the bottom. Mandarinfish live in small groups comprised of both males and females. The female lays around 200 eggs in open water that the male fertilizes. The hatched fry are left on their own.