
Wolf cardinalfish
Cheilodipterus artus
- Usual depth2–25 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsMarch, May, and November
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) James-LaFontaine, 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: 41 records
- February: 39 records
- March: 52 records
- April: 33 records
- May: 54 records
- June: 21 records
- July: 20 records
- August: 19 records
- September: 32 records
- October: 45 records
- November: 56 records
- December: 15 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–25 m · Deepest record: 74 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos

(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) amfstocker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Wolf cardinalfish, Arrow-tooth Cardinal, Lined Cardinalfish, wolf cardinalfish
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Wolfskardinalbarsch
- French
- Apogon strié
- Japanese
- Ishimochi, Kasumiyaraiishimochi, カスミヤライイシモチ
- Thai
- ปลาอมไข่เขี้ยวยาว
- Simplified Chinese
- 大目側仔, 大面側仔, 縱帶巨牙天竺鯛, 縱帶巨齒天竺鯛
Similar species
Largetoothed cardinalfishCheilodipterus macrodon
Fivelined cardinalfishCheilodipterus quinquelineatus
Inbetween CardinalfishCheilodipterus intermedius
Dog-toothed CardinalfishCheilodipterus isostigma
Singapore CardinalfishCheilodipterus singapurensis
- Pearly-finned Cardinalfish
Jaydia poeciloptera
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).
- 675 open-data records from 1950 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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