Red Scooter Dragonet (Synchiropus stellatus)

The Red Scooter Dragonet (Synchiropus stellatus), sold as the Red Scooter Blenny, is not a blenny at all but a dragonet, a cousin of the mandarin. It scoots across sand and rock in short hops, picking copepods and other tiny foods from every surface. Peaceful and reef safe, it is an intermediate fish because it needs a mature tank with a healthy pod population. Browse our saltwater livestock and supplies to round out the tank.

Care Guide

• Tank size: 30 gallons or larger with established live rock, ideally 6 months or older.
• Pod supply: the key to success. A refugium or regular copepod dosing with live pods like Nutramar Tigrio Live Copepods or Reef Nutrition Tigger-Pods keeps it fed between meals.
• Water parameters: 72 to 78°F, pH 8.1 to 8.4, salinity 1.020 to 1.026.
• Feeding: micro-carnivore. Many learn frozen mysis, baby brine and small frozen foods, which makes them easier than mandarins, but pods remain the backbone of the diet.
• Tank mates: avoid fast, aggressive feeders that outcompete it.

Specifications

Compatibility

If you love dragonets, compare it with our Ruby Red Scooter Dragonet and Green Mandarin. Great with calm reef fish like clownfish, gobies and cardinals. Keep one dragonet per tank unless it is very large, since males fight, and avoid pairing with other pod-hungry fish like mandarins in small systems.

Recommended Foods & Supplies

• Nutramar Tigrio Live Copepods to seed and restock the pod population
• Reef Nutrition Tigger-Pods live copepods
• Piscine Energetics PE Mysis frozen food for training onto prepared foods
• Water test kits to keep a mature tank stable

FAQ

Is it a blenny or a dragonet?
A dragonet. The trade name stuck.

Can it go in a new tank?
Not a good idea. It needs mature rock with a steady copepod population.

Will it eat frozen food?
Many do, which makes it easier than a mandarin, but keep pods in the system anyway.