. . . at Center in The Square downtown.
The little fellow above is a Mandarin Goby – also known as a “Mandarin Dragonet.” There are two of them in the large reef tank and two in the Seahorse Aquarium in the center’s main lobby. The species was first discovered in the Philippines in the 1920’s and was named based on its extremely vivid coloration said to evoke the robes of an Imperial Chinese mandarin.
The exotic fish is very popular with visitors to Center in the Square who will often spend a great deal of time waiting to see one swim by. They are typically lagoon and reef dwellers in the wild and are doing very well in the center aquariums where their prey (small aquatic invertebrates) reproduce naturally in the aquarium’s live rock. Drop on by and say hello to the Gobies – and tell them Star Photographer Terry Aldhizer sent you.
