Banggai cardinalfish, Pterapogon kauderni Introduction: Ichthyologist Dr. Frederick Petrus Koumans he is the one who described the species and erected a new genus, Pterapogon (cardinalfish with long fins), and assigned the species name of kauderni in honor of the Swedish zoologist Walter A. Kaudern who was the first to collect this species in 1920. It is among the relatively few marine fish to have been bred regularly in captivity, but significant numbers are still captured in the wild and it is now a threatened species. The Banggai cardinalfish is the only representative of the family that is diurnal. The species exhibits homing whereas individual specimens which leave their original locations are capable to identify and return to the original …show more content…
This attractive fish is popular in the aquarium trade. The Banggai Cardinal has a distinctive pattern of color with a remarkable arrangement of vertical bars and white spots. The beautiful color along with elongated fins in addition to its small sizes (a maximum total length of about 8 cm), explain the popularity of the Banggai cardinalfish in the aquarium trade. Although there is no distinct difference in color pattern between male and female, males have enlarged buccal cavity during the incubation of fertilized eggs till hatching. Distribution and habitats: This species has an extremely limited geographic range and is originally found only at select sites around the coasts of 33 islands in the Banggai Archipelago of Indonesia. It is estimated that the total suitable habitat available within the Banggai cardinalfish’s range amounts to a mere 34 square kilometers. The Banggai cardinalfish are more common in shallow waters at 1.5–2.5 m depth inhabiting various habitats such as seagrass beds, coral reefs in association with the seagrass Enhalus acoroidesand and long spined Sea Urchins, Diadema