The ring-tailed cardinalfish (''Ostorhinchus aureus'') is a widespread fish

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Apogonidae Cardinalfishes are a family, Apogonidae, of ray-finned fishes found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans; they are chiefly marine, but some species are found in brackish water and a few (notably '' Glossamia'') are found in fresh water. ...

found in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

and off

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, north to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and south to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Taxonomy

The

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Philibert Commerson Philibert Commerson (; 18 November 1727 – 14 March 1773), sometimes spelled Commerçon by contemporaries, was a French naturalist, best known for accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of circumnavigation in 1766–1769. ...

provided the first description of this fish from

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

in the western

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, but it was not published in a format allowing full citation. Therefore, the

name and description by

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French natural history, naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's g ...

(who acknowledged Commerson) takes precedence, albeit with a nod to Commerson.Lacépède, B. G. E. (1802
''Histoire naturelle des poissons. v. 4, p.273''
/ref> With no original or subsequent illustrations or specimens denoted as

types Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

, Fricke nominated a

neotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

in 1999 but subsequently withdrew it.Fricke, R. (2000) ''Invalid neotypes'' Copeia 2000 (no. 2): 639-640

Etymology

This species has on occasion been mistakenly considered a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of the similar species '' Ostorhinchus fleurieu'', but is generally acknowledged as separate; it had the junior species synonym ''roseipinnis'' applied by

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

in 1829.Eschmeyer, W. N. and R. Fricke, and R. van der Laan (eds). ''CATALOG OF FISHES: GENERA, SPECIES, REFERENCES'
Electronic version accessed 31 May 2018
Lacépède coined the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Ostorhinchus ''Ostorhinchus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Apogonidae native to the Indian and Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the A ...

'' in 1802Lacépède, B. G. E. (1802
''Histoire naturelle des poissons. v. 4, p.23''
/ref> to which ''O. aureus'' was eventually assigned,Randall, J. E. (2005) ''Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands'' University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu. i-xii + 1-707. although he originally placed it in the genus ''

Centropomus ''Centropomus'' is a genus of predominantly marine fish comprising the family Centropomidae. The type species is ''Centropomus undecimalis'', the common snook. Commonly known as snooks or ''róbalos'', the ''Centropomus'' species are native to t ...

'' which is now placed in a different fish family,

Centropomidae ''Centropomus'' is a genus of predominantly marine fish comprising the family Centropomidae. The type species is '' Centropomus undecimalis'', the common snook. Commonly known as snooks or ''róbalos'', the ''Centropomus'' species are native to ...

Description

This fish is coppery-coloured with a broad blackish bar at the base of the tail, up to 14.5 cm in length. The upper jaw has a narrow blue streak, and a broad blackish stripe extends from the front of the snout to the

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

. Easily confused with '' Ostorhinchus fleurieu'',Lieske, E. and Myers, R.F. (2004) ''Coral reef guide; Red Sea'' London, HarperCollins where the black tail bar does not narrow in the centre, but unlike this species, the stripe is also present in juveniles. Internally, ''O. aureus'' is one of a large group of

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

feeding fishes which has a black

pigment A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...

ed gut lining, apparently to hide the glow of

bioluminescent Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms inc ...

prey Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...

from its own

piscivore A piscivore () is a carnivorous animal that primarily eats fish. Fish were the diet of early tetrapod evolution (via water-bound amphibians during the Devonian period); insectivory came next; then in time, the more terrestrially adapted repti ...

s in turn. The eyes of ''O. aureus'' allow the transmission of

ultraviolet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...

light, which if it is proven to be able to see, could benefit its nocturnal foraging.

Meristics

Using a shorthand

meristics Meristics is an area of zoology and botany which relates to counting quantitative features of animals and plants, such as the number of fins or scales in fish. A meristic (countable trait) can be used to describe a particular species, or used to i ...

formula, ''O. aureus'' can be described as having: D, VII-I,9 A, II,8 P, 14 LL, 25 GR, 6-8 + 16-20Allen, G.R. and M.V. Erdmann 2012 Reef fishes of the East Indies. Tropical Reef Research, Perth, Australia. Volume I, p. 387.

Habitat

''Ostorhinchus aureus'' inhabits holes in rocks or under ledges in shallow waters. It is known to occur in mixed aggregates with ''

Ostorhinchus apogonoides ''Ostorhinchus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Apogonidae native to the Indian and Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the A ...

'' during summer and autumn, but form separate aggregates in winter and spring.

Settlement

Whereas coral reef fish settlement tends to be dominated by larval recruitment, in at least part of

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

, recruitment of ''O. aureus'' at any given

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

patch tends to be by adult and juvenile migration across intervening sand and coral debris.

Parasites

''O. aureus'' is subject to infection by tiny

cnidaria Cnidaria ( ) is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic invertebrates found both in fresh water, freshwater and marine environments (predominantly the latter), including jellyfish, hydroid (zoology), hydroids, ...

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

from class

Myxosporea Myxosporea is a class of microscopic animals, all of whom are parasites. They belong to the Myxozoa clade within Cnidaria. They have a complex life cycle that comprises vegetative forms in two hosts—one an aquatic invertebrate (generally an ann ...

. Fish specimens have been found with gall bladder infections of '' Ceratomyxa apogoni'', '' Ceratomyxa cardinalis'', and '' Ellipsomyxa apogoni'',. Three species have also been found in

skeletal muscle Skeletal muscle (commonly referred to as muscle) is one of the three types of vertebrate muscle tissue, the others being cardiac muscle and smooth muscle. They are part of the somatic nervous system, voluntary muscular system and typically are a ...

cells: '' Kudoa cheilodipteri'', '' Kudoa whippsi'', and '' Kudoa iwatai.''

Behaviour

''O. aureus'' is a nocturnal predator; where

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine (ocean), marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four Family (biology), families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and ...

is adjacent to its reef, it tends to venture out further than some other members of its

Diet

Studies of stomach content show that ''O. aureus'' is a generalist predator, eating mainly

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

ic and

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s, but, unusually for its family, may at times also eat marine

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

Reproduction

''O. aureus'' are external bearers, specifically

mouthbrooders Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

. Adults tend to

pair Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to: Government and politics * Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin * ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords * ''Pair'', the Fren ...

whilst juveniles tend to aggregate during the day time.

Importance to humans

Aquariums

''O. aureus'' is regularly kept by marine aquarists. Personal Aquariums List of aspects that one should be aware of about having ring-tailed cardinalfish as a personal pet: – This species needs hiding places. – This species can live with many of its own kind, when provided with enough space. – This species is nocturnal and therefore the most active when the light is dimmed or turned off. – This species might be a threat to smaller fishes, shrimps, crabs, etc.

References

External links

* * Ringtail Cardinalfish @ Fishes of Australia
/small> {{Taxonbar, from1=Q43442632, from2=Q2253608 ring-tailed cardinalfish Fish of the Red Sea ring-tailed cardinalfish Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède