Coral Cardinalfish
Sphaeramia nematoptera
- Usual depth1–12 m
- Water temperature26–29 °C
- Best monthsJanuary, May, and November
- How commonRare
About this species
The pajama cardinalfish, spotted cardinalfish, coral cardinalfish, or polkadot cardinalfish is a species of fish belonging to the family Apogonidae. It is a popular aquarium fish. It grows to a total length around 8.5 cm (3.3 in) and features distinctive red eyes and a broad, dark, vertical 'waistband' with scattered red spots toward the tail. It is considered to be of low vulnerability, and is distributed throughout much of the western Pacific Ocean, from Java to Fiji, and from the Ryukyu Islands south to the Great Barrier Reef. The male pajama cardinalfish incubates the eggs in his mouth until they hatch.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Sphaeramia nematoptera”, 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: 5 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 3 records
- April: 0 records
- May: 8 records
- June: 0 records
- July: 2 records
- August: 0 records
- September: 2 records
- October: 3 records
- November: 7 records
- December: 0 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–12 m · Deepest record: 17 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 26–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Coral Cardinalfish, Pajama cardinalfish, Polkadot cardinalfish, Pyjama Cardinal, Pyjama Cardinalfish
Names in 6 more languages
- German
- Pyjama-Kardinalbarsch
- Spanish
- Cardenal pijama
- French
- Apogon-pyjama
- Japanese
- Manjuishimochi, マンジュウイシモチ
- Thai
- ปลาอมไข่ตาแดง
- Simplified Chinese
- 大目側仔, 大面側仔, 絲鰭圓天竺鯛, 絲鰭圓竺鯛
Other scientific names: Apogon nematopterus
Similar species
- Orbiculate cardinalfish
Sphaeramia orbicularis
- Pearly-finned Cardinalfish
Jaydia poeciloptera
- Barred Striped Cardinalfish
Ostorhinchus fasciatus
Cryptic CardinalfishApogon erythrinus
Timor CardinalApogonichthyoides timorensis
Obliquebanded cardinalfishApogon semiornatus
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).
- 196 open-data records from 1940 to 2006.
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