EZ Wild World 狂 野 世 界

FISHBASE Mandarinfish ( splendidus), is a small, brightly- colored member of the family, which is popular in the saltwater aquarium trade. The mandarinfish is native to the Pacific, ranging approximately from the Ryukyu Islands south to Australia.

Mandarin Magic 魔力麒麟魚 Mandarinfish are highly decorative in coloration, a profusion of blues, greens and oranges in unique patterns. 麒麟魚的色彩十分華麗，豐富的藍色、綠色還有橙色在牠身上彩繪出獨一無二的圖案。

Text & Photo David & Debi Henshaw

ur visit to Lankayan was to see the Mandarinfish it is when they emerge to the open water around the coral blocks and renowned for. Each evening, as dusk approached, we rubbles. Omade the short trip to their reef to see and spent time photographing these extremely shy creatures and be witness Mandarinfish are highly decorative in coloration, a profusion to one of the marine world’s most fascinating events. Unlike of blues, greens and oranges in unique patterns earning it an apt many species of you may be looking to find, you can almost nickname of the “psychedelic fish”. They live in groups at depths guarantee to see them here each evening and what a colourful of between 3 and 30 meters, inhabiting hard corals such as stag- spectacle they are. horn to give shelter and protection.

Mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus) are a member of the If you look closely, you would see that their rather large eyes Dragonet family (Callionymidae) that has no less than 9 genera are set outwardly to assist its feeding in low light and to cover a that can be sub divided into approximately 125 species. The wider area of vision to enable the capture of its main diet of small Mandarinfish are by far the most colourful. They can grow up such as amphipods, mysids, and isopods along with to 6cm in length although species found in various locations do small worms and protozoans. differ in size. A little known fact is that they are only one of a few that do not have scales. The males are larger than the females and can display a mag- nificent elongated dorsal spine which is almost twice the size They can be found throughout the Central tropical Indo- of that of the female. The males can be seen in full display when Pacific region with many hotspots throughout from Malaysia, visiting various groups of females or threatening rival males. The ,, The successful male supports the female on his Philippines, and Indonesia to as far afield as Japan and Papua larger the males, the more attractive they are to the females, size New Guinea. Their habitat means that they are extremely difficult is important in winning a suitable mate. pelvic fin as part of the mating ritual. to see during the day. The better opportunities exist at sunset 這尾贏得芳心的雄麒麟魚，在交配儀式中，用牠的腹鰭支托著雌麒麟魚。 ,, 82 Dream it. Plan it, Dive it EZDIVE 83 EZ Wild World 狂 野 世 界 為了一睹著名的麒麟魚；又名皇冠青蛙魚），我們來 到了蘭卡央島。每個傍晚，當薄暮降臨時，我們會來趟短 途潛游，拜訪這些極其害羞的生物們所處的礁脈，拍攝牠 們，同時親眼看看這海洋世界裏其中一件最美妙的大事。 不像其他許多種類的魚，你可能有需要費心尋覓的打算， 相反的，在這裏，幾乎可以擔保你每個黃昏都絕對能夠見 著麒麟魚的身影，驚歎牠們豐富多姿的奇觀。

麒麟魚是銜魚【鼠銜科】家族的成員之一，而銜魚家族 多達9屬，大約可以區分為125種。麒麟魚顯然是其中最鮮 麗生動的，儘管在不同的地點發現的品種，尺寸大小也會 不一樣，不過原則上牠們能夠長到6公分長。而鮮為人知的 是，牠們是少數沒有魚鱗的魚類之一。

在熱帶印太平洋中央區域隨處可見麒麟魚的蹤跡，許多 熱門的地點遍及了馬來西亞、菲律賓以及印尼，更遠達了 日本與巴布亞新幾內亞。牠們的棲息方式使得他們很難在 白天被遇見，因此，最佳的觀賞時機是在日落時刻，此時 牠們會浮現於珊瑚區塊與碎石瓦礫間的開放水域中。

麒麟魚的色彩十分華麗，豐富的藍色、綠色還有橙色在 牠身上彩繪出獨一無二的圖案，讓牠獲得了「psychedelic fish」這個貼切的綽號。牠們群居在水下3米到30米之間的 海域，棲住在像是鹿角珊瑚這類的硬珊瑚裏頭，安然的接 受珊瑚們所給予的掩蔽與保護。

如果你靠近一點觀看，你會看到牠們有點兒大的雙眼往 外凸長著，這是為了方便在昏暗的光線下覓食，且其涵蓋 廣泛的視線範圍，能夠協助牠們捕獵主食，例如片腳類動 物、糠蝦以及附生在小蟲或原生動物上的等腳類動物...等 等這類小型的甲殼綱動物。

雄麒麟魚的塊頭比雌麒麟魚大，而且能夠表演一套伸展 背脊的驚人絕活，拉長的身軀幾乎可以是雌魚的兩倍長。 當拜訪不同的雌魚族群或遭受競爭對手的威脅時，雄麒麟 魚就會展現出這項招數。越壯大的雄魚，對母魚的吸引力 就越大，尺寸在贏得交配機會的競爭中，顯得極為重要。

下水前，我們先行準備好手電筒，小心翼翼的將白光 轉成紅光，這麼一來，麒麟魚才不會害羞的閃避我們。我 們後翻跳入被餘暉曬得褪白的海水中，潛入只有七米深的 礁脈底。在手電筒照射出的晦暗紅光下，該是佔個好位置 top: It’s 5pm in the afternoon, the sun is lowering in the sky as the sun worshipers 的時間了，當燈光熄滅後，活動即將開始。耐住性子，沉 leave the heat behind them for the day and look towards the forthcoming sunset. 住氣...很快的，你的雙眼就能適應陰暗的光線，你就能夠 top: The Mandarin Magic was coming to a close for another day as the moon was 更不費力的查看那些珊瑚，東瞧西看，尋覓牠們的蛛絲馬 上圖：現在是下午五點，太陽低垂的掛在天空，狂愛陽光的人從白天的日光熱力中脫身， rising. All that was left was to tell others of this unique experience we had seen and 滿心期待著即將到來的日落餘暉。 to look forward one day of returning again. 跡；接下來...

上圖：當月亮升起時，另一個追逐『魔力麒麟魚』的日子又接近尾聲。整個行程帶給我們 眼前一閃，又一閃，別具特色的螢光圖案壓倒性的出 無與倫比的美好體驗，讓我們津津樂道著，並且期待有一天能再次重溫這難忘的經歷。 現在平淡無奇的硬珊瑚背景中。仔細一瞧，你看到了雄麒 As we prepared our torches before leaving, we were careful Breaking cover, the male and female rose together just inches 麟魚與雌麒麟魚在扭曲纏繞的珊瑚叢間飛奔來去，有時候 to diffuse the white light to red so that the Mandarinfish would above the coral - the mating game commences. They were soon 還會迅捷的現個身逗弄著觀眾。這還不足以成為鏡頭下最 not shy away from them. We rolled back into the sunset bleached joined by a frenzy of activity, another pair and another - one pair 棒的焦點，所以你得再等等。終於，當光線褪入一片黑暗 water to the reef bottom at just 7 meters – time to take up posi- quickly spiraled one metre into the water column above the coral 中，求偶行動可是一刻都等不及了。 tions behind the dull red glow of our torches and wait as the light to spawn - in that split second the female released approximately faded and the action started. Patience, patience … soon your eyes 200 eggs into the male’s cloud of sperm, only for the pair to disap- 突破重圍，一對雄麒麟魚與雌麒麟魚一同游上不過幾英 became accustomed to the lowering light and you were able to pear an instant later, often quicker than the click of the shutter. Scientific Classification 吋高的珊瑚頂端－交配儀式開始火熱上演。牠們以熱情狂 野的行動快速的結合，一對接著一對－其中一對很快地盤 scan the coral with more ease, looking, looking for the slightest i Kingdom: Animalia 旋達一公尺之遠，衝入水柱中，直上珊瑚頂部，進行著生 movement – and then ….. The eggs were then taken by the currents for the next 24 hours Phylum: Chordata until they hatched as 1mm larvae. They will remain in the water Class: 兒育女的大事－剎那間，雌麒麟魚釋放出約莫200顆的卵， A glimpse, then another, the distinctive fluorescent patterns column for a few more weeks until eventually fall onto the reef to Order: 混入雄麒麟魚擲出的那一大片密佈的精子裏，要不是這對 愛侶一會兒才離開，通常我們按快門速度是趕不及牠們開 dominated the bland background of the hard corals. Looking close- establish their own habitat and remain for their lifetime of up to 15 Family: Callionymidae Genus: Synchiropus 溜的腳步。 ly, you saw both males and females darting amongst the twisted years. Species: S. splendidus undergrowth, sometimes teasing the onlooker with a quick ap- 在接下來的24個鐘頭，受精卵會隨著水流漂蕩，直到牠 pearance. It was not quite enough to focus the camera and shoot; 們孵化成1毫米長的幼魚。牠們會繼續待在水柱中好幾個星 therefore, you need to wait a little longer. Finally, as the light was 期，最後降落在礁岩上，建立起自己的棲身家園，然後在 fading into darkness, the courtship rituals could wait no longer. 此度過最多長達十五年的一生。

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