Cardinalfishes are a family, Apogonidae, of

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

es found in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Oceans; they are chiefly marine, but some

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

are found in

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

and a few (notably '' Glossamia'') are found in fresh water. A handful of species are kept in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

and are popular as small, peaceful, and colourful fish. The family includes about 370 species. They are generally small fish, with most species being less than , and are often brightly coloured. They are distinguished by their large mouths, and the division of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

into two separate fins. Most species live in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

waters, where they inhabit

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

s and

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...

s. They are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

, spending the day in dark crevices within the reef. At least some species

brood Brood may refer to: Nature * Brood, a collective term for offspring * Brooding, the incubation of bird eggs by their parents * Bee brood, the young of a beehive * Individual broods of North American Periodical Cicadas: ** Brood X, the largest b ...

their eggs inside the mouths of the males. Males do not feed during this incubation period. Males incubate the eggs in their mouth due to having longer heads and a larger jaw, which females do not acquire.Hoey, A., Bellwood, D., & Barnett, A. (2012). To feed or to breed: Morphological constraints of mouthbrooding in coral reef cardinalfishes. Proceedings: Biological Sciences, 279(1737), 2426-2432.

Classification

The fifth edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

'' recognises only two subfamilies of the Apogonidae: * Apogoninae ** '' Amioides'' H.M. Smith & Radcliffe, 1912 ** '' Apogon'' Lacépède, 1801 ** '' Apogonichthyoides'' J.L.B. Smith, 1949 ** '' Apogonichthys'' Bleeker, 1854 ** '' Archamia'' T.N. Gill, 1863 ** '' Astrapogon'' Fowler, 1907 ** '' Cercamia'' J. E. Randall & C. L. Smith, 1988 ** '' Cheilodipterus'' Lacépède, 1801 ** '' Fibramia'' T. H. Fraser & Mabuchi, 2014 Mabuchi, K., Fraser, T.H., Song, H., Azuma, Y. & Nishida, M. (2014)
Revision of the systematics of the cardinalfishes (Percomorpha: Apogonidae) based on molecular analyses and comparative reevaluation of morphological characters.
''Zootaxa, 3846 (2): 151–203.'' ** '' Foa'' D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1905 ** '' Fowleria'' D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1905 ** '' Glossamia'' T.N. Gill, 1863 ** '' Holapogon'' T. H. Fraser, 1973 ** '' Jaydia'' J. L. B. Smith, 1961 ** '' Lachneratus'' T. H. Fraser & Struhsaker, 1991 ** '' Lepidamia'' T. N. Gill, 1863 ** ''

Neamia ''Neamia'' is a genus of cardinalfishes native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Sou ...

'' H. M. Smith & Radcliffe, 1912 ** '' Nectamia'' D. S. Jordan, 1917 ** '' Ostorhinchus'' Lacépède, 1802 ** '' Paroncheilus'' J. L. B. Smith, 1964 ** '' Phaeoptyx'' T. H. Fraser & C. R. Robins, 1970 ** ''

Pristiapogon ''Pristiapogon'' is a genus of cardinalfishes native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Species The recognized species in this genus are:Mabuchi, K., Fraser, T.H., Song, H., Azuma, Y. & Nishida, M. (2014)Revision of the systematics of the cardin ...

'' Klunzinger, 1870 ** '' Pristicon'' T. H. Fraser, 1972 ** '' Pterapogon'' Koumans, 1933 ** '' Rhabdamia'' M. C. W. Weber, 1909 ** '' Siphamia'' M. C. W. Weber, 1909 ** '' Sphaeramia'' Fowler & B. A. Bean, 1930 ** ''

Taeniamia ''Taeniamia'' is a genus of cardinalfishes native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Species The 15 recognized species in this genus are:Mabuchi, K., Fraser, T.H., Song, H., Azuma, Y. & Nishida, M. (2014)Revision of the systemat ...

'' T. H. Fraser, 2013 ** '' Verulux'' T. H. Fraser, 1972 ** '' Vincentia'' Castelnau, 1872 ** '' Yarica'' Whitley 1930 ** '' Zapogon'' T. H. Fraser, 1972 ** '' Zoramia'' D. S. Jordan, 1917 * Pseudaminae ** '' Gymnapogon''

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

, 1905 ** '' Paxton'' C. C. Baldwin & G. D. Johnson, 1999 ** '' Pseudamia'' Bleeker, 1865 ** '' Pseudamiops'' J. L. B. Smith, 1954

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-65.5 till:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:-65.5 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-65.5 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify Colors = #legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cenozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) id:neogene value:rgb(0.999999,0.9,0.1) id:miocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.999999,0) id:pliocene value:rgb(0.97,0.98,0.68) id:quaternary value:rgb(0.98,0.98,0.5) id:pleistocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.95,0.68) id:holocene value:rgb(0.999,0.95,0.88) BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:periodtop from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pala ...

from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...

from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...

from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text: Pleist. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:eratop from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q. PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:eocene bar:NAM1 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Apogon PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:

from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:

from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:

from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:

from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text: Pleist. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:era from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.

References

External links

* Smith, J.L.B. (1961)
"Fishes of the family Apogonidae of the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea". ''Ichthyological Bulletin''; No. 22
Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. * Hoey, A., Bellwood, D., & Barnett, A. (2012). To feed or to breed: Morphological constraints of mouthbrooding in coral reef cardinalfishes. Proceedings: Biological Sciences, 279(1737), 2426-2432. {{Taxonbar, from=Q728422 Kurtiformes Marine fish families Taxa named by Albert Günther