Blackbanded Soldierfish
Ostorhinchus nigrofasciatus
- Usual depth2–23 m
- Water temperature22–30 °C
- Best monthsMay and November
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The blackstripe cardinalfish, Ostorhinchus nigrofasciatus, is a cardinalfish from the Indo-Pacific. A yellow-black striped fish, it occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to 10 cm in length.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Ostorhinchus nigrofasciatus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 112 records
- February: 64 records
- March: 93 records
- April: 102 records
- May: 195 records
- June: 73 records
- July: 73 records
- August: 86 records
- September: 107 records
- October: 106 records
- November: 159 records
- December: 77 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–23 m · Deepest record: 46 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C
Photos
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Piotr Lukasik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Storm Martin, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Roger Rittmaster, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Blackbanded Soldierfish, Blackstripe Cardinalfish, Black-striped Cardinalfish, Blackstriped Cardinalfish
Names in 3 more languages
- French
- Apogon à rayures noires, Poisson-cardinal à rayures noires
- Japanese
- Minamifutosujiishimochi, ミナミフトスジイシモチ
- Simplified Chinese
- 大目側仔, 大面側仔, 黑带鹦天竺鲷, 黑帶天竺鯛
Other scientific names: Apogon nigrofasciatus
Similar species
- Barred Striped Cardinalfish
Ostorhinchus fasciatus
Bandtail CardinalOstorhinchus aureus
Blue-lined CardinalfishOstorhinchus cyanosoma
- Broadstriped Cardinalfish
Ostorhinchus angustatus
- Blue-eye Cardinalfish
Ostorhinchus compressus
- Blackbanded Cardinal
Ostorhinchus cookii
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).
- 1,698 open-data records from 1929 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
Log what you see on your next dive
The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.