Pajama Cardinalfish
Sphaeramia nematoptera
Also known as: Coral Cardinalfish, Nurseryfish, Polkadot Cardinalfish, Pyjama Cardinal, Pyjama-spotted Cardinalfish, Spotted Cardinalfish
- Coral Cardinalfish
- Nurseryfish
- Polkadot Cardinalfish
- Pyjama Cardinal
- Pyjama-spotted Cardinalfish
- Spotted Cardinalfish
Overview
Found in small schools, during the day sheltering in branching thickets of Porites cylindrica, and Porites nigrescens, over protected bays and lagoons, dispersing at night to feed close to the bottom.
They feed nocturnally on crustaceans and zooplankton.
Males incubate their eggs inside their mouths, as the egg masses increase in size they can be found with wide open mouths where they shift the eggs around to aerate the egg masses.
How to identify
- Pattern
- black barsspotsstripes
- Head & Mouth
- orange eye
- Behaviour
- mouth broodernocturnalschooling
Tap any trait to see other fish that share it.
Habitat & where to find it
- Range · Indo-Pacific
- Country only · 6
Found in small schools, during the day sheltering in branching thickets of Porites cylindrica, and Porites nigrescens, over protected bays and lagoons, dispersing at night to feed close to the bottom.
Adult photos 7
Discussion
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Deep dive
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