Black Cardinalfish
Apogonichthyoides melas
- Usual depth1–7 m
- Water temperature25–30 °C
- Best monthsApril, July, and September
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 11 records
- February: 10 records
- March: 9 records
- April: 18 records
- May: 13 records
- June: 10 records
- July: 23 records
- August: 11 records
- September: 17 records
- October: 13 records
- November: 12 records
- December: 3 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–7 m · Deepest record: 15 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 25–30 °C
Photos
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Black Cardinalfish, Blackspot Cardinalfish
Names in 2 more languages
- Japanese
- Montsukiishimochi, モンツキイシモチ
- Simplified Chinese
- 大目側仔, 大面側仔, 黑身天竺鯛
Other scientific names: Apogon melas
Similar species
Timor CardinalApogonichthyoides timorensis
- Black-finned Cardinal-fish
Apogonichthyoides atripes
- Deepreef Cardinalfish
Apogonichthyoides brevicaudatus
- Gentle Gobblegut
Apogonichthyoides chrysurus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 162 open-data records from 1929 to 2022.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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