Name: Orbiculate cardinalfish, chubby cardinalfish, polka-dot cardinalfish
Scientific Name: Sphaeramia orbicularis (Cuvier, 1825)
Family: Apogonidae
Group: Bony fish
Class: Fish
Size: 0-10 cm.
Orbiculate cardinalfishes reproduce every 15 days, shortly before the new or full moon. After fertilisation, males incubate the eggs in their mouths for eight days. During this period, they do not eat. They form small groups, which spend the day hidden among the roots of mangroves or in holes of rocks, next to the coast. At night they explore the vicinity of their hiding place, to feed on small planktonic crustaceans. Like other cardinalfishes, they have eyes specially adapted for seeing in the dark.
Photo by:
J. C. Schou (www.biopix.dk)
Oceanário Location
Tropical Indian
