Fu Manchu Lionfish, Twinspot Lionfish - Dendrochirus biocellatus

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You are here: Home » Fish » Lionfish » Fu Manchu Lionfish

Fu Manchu Lionfish

Scientific Name

Dendrochirus biocellatus

Reef Compatible

With Caution

Care Level

Intermediate

Disposition

Semi-aggressive

Min. Tank Size

30 gallons

Mature Size

5 inches

Diet

Carnivore

Range

Indo-Pacific

Size Class

view chart

Curator's Note

Lionfish of this species, Dendrochirus, are allowed to be shipped into the state of Florida. Only species of the genus Pterois are banned.

Other Common Names

Twinspot Lionfish, Ocellated Lionfish

Description

The Fu Manchu Lionfish gets it’s name from the long mustache appendages on the front of it’s mouth. This dwarf species is one of the more difficult of the Lionfish to maintain as it is often difficult to adapt to a captive diet. Keep with lesser aggressive tankmates. Males, often noted as larger specimens, can often be aggressive toward other Fu Manchu Lionfish and may eat them.

Lionfish will eat smaller fishes, ornamental shrimps and crabs. This species is venomous. The pelvic, pectoral and dorsal fins of this animal can cause extreme pain. If allergic, severe reactions can occur. If stung soak injured area in hot water and seek medical attention immediately. Smaller specimens will adapt to captivity and accept captive diets more easily. Lionfish will likely remain hidden in brightly lit aquariums as it prefers dimmer lighting.

Diet

Though we do our best to work with our Lionfish prior to shipping to accept a captive diet, many may revert back to live foods only due to the stress of shipping. Sometimes our Lionfish are not in our facility long enough for us to get very far in this process as well. If your Lionfish is not eating, we recommend feeding live Feeder Shrimp mixed with frozen mysis shrimp. Slowly increase the frozen mysis shrimp and decrease on the live Feeder Shrimp. Eventually cut out the live food all together. This can take a few days or a few weeks depending on the stress level, health, age, and willingness on the individual animal.

Brine Shrimp as a live food source is acceptable providing that you ‘gut load’ the live brine shrimp with phytoplankton, Kent Marine Zoe, Zoecon or any other liquid vitamin. Once past the 24 hour period after hatching, brine shrimp lose their nutritional value as the juveniles (called Artemia) have consumed their egg yolk sac which leaves the Brine Shrimp have little to no nutritional value. ‘Gut Loading’ consists of soaking the Brine Shrimp in a solution of some type of liquid vitamin for about 10 to 15 min. prior to feeding. This ensures that the animal, though hesitant to consume a captive diet, will be getting some sort of nutritional benefit. Frozen Brine Shrimp are dead and unable to consume or soak up any liquid vitamins and are not suitable to use with this method.