Fivelined cardinalfish

Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–18 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsMay, October, and November
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The five-lined cardinalfish is a species of marine fish in the family Apogonidae. It is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region, Red Sea included. It can reach a maximum size of 13 cm (5.1 in) in length.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Five-lined cardinalfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 110 records
February: 109 records
March: 167 records
April: 138 records
May: 215 records
June: 155 records
July: 202 records
August: 177 records
September: 214 records
October: 294 records
November: 239 records
December: 99 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–18 m · Deepest record: 312.5 m

0–10 m: 802 records
10–20 m: 195 records
20–30 m: 50 records
30–40 m: 16 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 10 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 53 records
26–28 °C: 193 records
28–30 °C: 203 records

Photos

(c) Rohan Arthur, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ben Costamagna, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Ben Costamagna, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Fivelined cardinalfish, Fiveband Cardinalfish, Fiveline Cardinalfish, fivelined cardinalfish, Five-lined Cardinalfish, fivestriped percelle, Sharptooth Cardinal

Names in 3 more languages

French: Apogon à cinq lignes
Japanese: Yaraiishimochi, ヤライイシモチ
Simplified Chinese: 五带巨牙天竺鲷, 五帶巨牙天竺鯛, 五線巨齒天竺鯛, 大目側仔, 大面側仔

Other scientific names: Cheilodipterus popur, Cheilodipterus quenquelineatus, Cheilodipterus quinquelineata, Cheliodipterus quinquelineatus, Ostorhinchus popur, Paramia quinquelineata

Similar species

Largetoothed cardinalfish
Cheilodipterus macrodon
Dog-toothed Cardinalfish
Cheilodipterus isostigma
Obliquebanded cardinalfish
Apogon semiornatus
Dwarf Cardinalfish
Fowleria vaiulae
Bandtail Cardinal
Ostorhinchus aureus
Blue-lined Cardinalfish
Ostorhinchus cyanosoma

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.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
4,485 open-data records from 1828 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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