Order : Perciformes
Family : APOGONIDAE
Species : Ostorhinchus margaritophorus
Maximum Length : 6.5 cm

The Chequered Cardinalfish inhabits shallow, nearshore marine habitats such as coral reefs and seagrass meadows.

The species is also known as the Red-striped Cardinalfish, the 'red' referring to the background colour of some populations, not the colour of the stripes.

The species can be identified by the parallel arrangement of pale stripes along the flanks, on a yellowish-brown to reddish background. The thinner stripes are broken into unequal dashes, and the thicker stripes into a chequered pattern. The underside of the head and front of the belly are generally white.

The head is relatively large, and the large, sideward-facing eyes bulge somewhat onto the top of the skull. The fins are translucent to whitish, and there are two dorsal fins. The leading edge of the front dorsal fin has a red stripe.

The species occurs throughout the islands of the Indo-malayan archipelago (i.e. Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and possibly coastal Indochina), as well as parts of the western Pacific Ocean including northern Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Micronesia.

Figs 1 and 2 :  A pair of Chequered Cardinalfish in shallow, sandy, coastal habitat partly vegetated by Spoon Seagrass Halophila ovalis. Seen at Changi Beach, Singapore.


References :

Allen, G. 1988. Marine Fishes of Southeast Asia. Western Australian Museum.

Lim, K.P. and Low, K.Y. 1998. A Guide to Common Marine Fishes of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre.


Links :

Fishbase - Ostorhinchus margaritophorus