Species Fact Profile: Banggai Cardinalfish

Banggai Cardinalfish

Pterapogon kauderni (Koumans, 1933)

Range: Banggai Islands (off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia)
Habitat: Reefs, Seagrass Beds, Shallow Coastal Waters
Diet: Small Crustaceans and Other Marine Invertebrates, Plankton
Social Grouping: Small Mixed-Sex Schools (Fewer Than 10 Fish), Sometimes Larger Groups
Reproduction: Can breed year round, but most often in September and October.  Courting pairs form two weeks.  Courtship is initiated by females a few hours prior to spawning, establishing small territories.  Small clutches (fewer than 90 eggs) are brooded in the mouth of the male for 30 days (18-21 days to hatch, then a week or two as juveniles).  Female guards the male for the first few days after laying.  Hatchlings stay in father's mouth for a period of time after hatching, growing quickly in there.  Mature at about 10 months old
Lifespan: 1-2 Years (Wild), 4 Years (Aquarium)
Conservation Status: IUCN Endangered, UWFWS Threatened

• Length up to 8 centimeters.  Fins are very elongated (in the case of the first dorsal fin also tasseled), giving the fish an almost star-like appearance.  Males have a slightly more angular head and longer second dorsal fin, but otherwise very similar.  Males can be distinguished by their enlarged oral cavity, but only during brooding
• Sexes look largely alike, with gray-white base color with bright silver flecks and three black vertical stripes on the head and flanks, extending into the fins
• Unlike other cardinalfish species, they are active by day
• Males do not eat while they are mouth-brooding the young; in captive settings, some have starved if the female continues to breed, forcing him to continuously brood young.
• Often found near sea anemones and sea urchins, hiding within these invertebrates for protection from predators.  Predators include lionfish, groupers, and marine snakes
• Primary threat is collection for the pet trade - first appeared in international markets in the mid 1990's, and has since become very popular, with approximately 700,000-900,000 exported per year by the early 2000's.  Limited range and low reproductive rate made this rate of collection highly unsustainable
• One of only a few marine fish species to be regularly bred in captivity, which is helping to undercut the demand for wild-caught fish for the pet trade
• Habitat is also threatened by pollution from agricultural run-off, destruction of reefs due to fishing with explosives
• Small populations of this species have been established in other parts of Indonesia; believed to be caused by released/escaped pets, given the highly sedentary nature of this fish, with even neighboring populations being very genetically isolated