Dwarf Cardinalfish
Fowleria vaiulae
- Usual depth2–25 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsApril and May
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Ewout Knoester · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 23 records
- February: 10 records
- March: 19 records
- April: 48 records
- May: 54 records
- June: 19 records
- July: 2 records
- August: 4 records
- September: 15 records
- October: 24 records
- November: 26 records
- December: 4 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–25 m · Deepest record: 39.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Dwarf Cardinalfish, Mottled Cardinalfish, Spotless Cardinalfish
Names in 2 more languages
- French
- Apogon tacheté
- Japanese
- Shiboridamashi, シボリダマシ
Other scientific names: Foa abocellata, Foa vaiulae, Fowleria abocellata, Fowleria vaiuli
Similar species
- Crosseyed cardinalfish
Fowleria aurita
- Dotted Cardinalfish
Fowleria isostigma
- Variegated cardinalfish
Fowleria variegata
Barred CardinalfishFowleria marmorata
- Flame Cardinalfish
Fowleria flammea
- 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).
- 453 open-data records from 1928 to 2016.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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