mandarin dragon fish

Question
How does the mandarin dragon fish maintain its nuetral bouyancy?

Answer
Hi Michelle,
  Do you mean that mandarin dragonet?   If so, that is an excellent question.  As far as I know, all dragonets do not maintain neutral buoyancy.  They are negatively buoyant because they do not have a well-developed swim-bladder like many other fishes such as a sunfish or a cichlid.  This is because the dragonets that I know of live on the bottom, often in cracks and crevices. When they want to move around, they have very complex movements of all of their fins and these motions have been the subject of some studies.

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>