Cardinal fish
Apogon imberbis
Special features
The males are particularly diligent in brood care.
They house up to 20,000 clumped eggs in their highly stretchy mouth and care for them until they hatch.
They wear the silvery pearls in their stuffed mouths for a week.
Since males are unable to eat during this period, they sometimes swallow a few eggs out of sheer despair.
Appearance
Cardinal fish are easily recognizable by their color.
This can range from pink to orange and red.
In stressful situations or when exposed to too much sunlight, their color starts to fade.
It is characterized by big scales.
On the large head, which he needs for brood care, sit huge black ball eyes, which are interspersed with two glowing stripes.
From its big eyes, we can tell that it is a shadow fish: it can see exceptionally well in caves and the dark of the night.
Sometimes it has a small black spot at the stem-like base of its tail fin.
Natural enemies
Predatory fish
Dangerous/Venomous
The mullet king is neither dangerous nor venomous.
Sketch
1. Huge black ball-like eyes
2. Big head
Pro tips
During the day, you rarely meet the Cardinal fish in open water, it rests alone or in small groups hidden in crevices and caves.
However, as soon as the sun sets and the sky turns pink, orange, and red, the Cardinal fish becomes active.
It then leaves his home together with his companions and hunts in groups for small crabs, worms, and fish.
Although it can occur at depths of up to 200m, it is usually found in 2-20m.
They reproduce between June and October, but usually in August.
In the winter months, they retreat to greater water depths.
The Cardinal fish is the only representative of cardinalfish (Apogonidae) in the Mediterranean.
Text: Felician Hosp, Carolina Leiter, Pia Balaka
Pic: Felician Hosp
Illustration: Sabine Probst
