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-- C a r d i n a l f i s h e s --
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| Q 1. | ||
| In holes in the rocks under the bridge at Tavernier in the Keys I saw two bright-scarlet fishes about three inches long. They were shaped very much like small sea bass and were hiding down in the holes. I wonder if you could identify these fish for me. |
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| Q 2. | ||
| What is the cardinal fish? |
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| Q 3. | ||
| My husband and I picked up five large conchs in the shallows recently and put them in the bottom of the boat. Suddenly, out of one conch hopped a beautiful little fish which turned bronze as the sun hit it. A few seconds later another fish, same variety but a bit larger, hopped out of a second conch. Now we are mystified. During five years in the Keys we've never seen these fish in conchs before. We know that a parasite fish lives in sea cucumbers. But in conchs? |
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| Q&A 1. | In holes in the rocks under the bridge at Tavernier in the Keys I saw two bright-scarlet fishes about three inches long. They were shaped very much like small sea bass and were hiding down in the holes. I wonder if you could identify these fish for me. Newport, Rhode Island |
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| These were undoubtedly cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) which, as the name indicates, are of a brilliant red color, usually marked with one or two pairs of small black spots and horizontal black lines through the eye. These fishes hide away in rocky crannies most of the time and are seldom seen far away from shelter of some sort. Cardinalfishes are among the most brilliantly colored of all marine fishes. It is interesting to note that in the breeding season the male incubates the eggs in his mouth. |
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| Q&A 2. | What is the cardinal fish? |
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| This little fish, Apogon maculates, is found about rocks in the Florida Keys. Several related species are found in the Bahamas, and some of these are occasionally taken locally. Growing to a length of about four inches, this fish receives its name from its brilliant red coloring which makes it sought after by collectors for tropical salt-water aquaria. A relative of the cardinal fish, the conch fish, Astraposon stellatus, is dark purplish-brown in color, and lives within the shell opening of large conchs. |
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| Q&A 3. | My husband and I picked up five large conchs in the shallows recently and put them in the bottom of the boat. Suddenly, out of one conch hopped a beautiful little fish which turned bronze as the sun hit it. A few seconds later another fish, same variety but a bit larger, hopped out of a second conch. Now we are mystified. During five years in the Keys we've never seen these fish in conchs before. We know that a parasite fish lives in sea cucumbers. But in conchs? Summerland Key, Florida |
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| A cardinal fish commonly lives in close association with the conch, entering its mantle cavity. Often there are several fish associated with a single conch. The relation has long been known, and this particular cardinal fish is called, appropriately, the conch fish, Apogon (Apogonichthys) stellatus. The fishes that live in the sea cucumbers are pearl fishes (family Carapidae) a family related to the cusk-eels. |
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Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science Library
University of Miami, FL USA 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, Florida 33149 Phone: 305 421 4060 Fax: 305 421 9306 E-mail: libcirc@rsmas.miami.edu |
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