Siphamia tubifer
Urchin Cardinalfish
©Marianne Dwyer: Siphamia tubifer among spines of the sea urchin Diademaat the lagoon bommie, Lizard Island.
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Perciformes
Family
Apogonidae
Genus
Siphamia
Species
Siphamia tubifer
Colours
Distinguishing features
Alternating black and white stripes but can change quickly to completely black. Live among spines of sea urchins; can display distinctive vibrating behaviour.
Size
- Up to 5 cm (Length according to Allen and Erdmann (2012))
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Similar taxa
-
Animalia:
Striped Siphonfish (species: Siphamia majimai)
associates with Crown-of-thorns starfish and echinoids. It does not appear to have such distinctive stripes. Several other species of Siphamia that associate with echinoderms are also known from the area.
Comments
by Anne Hoggett
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Local abundance
- Lizard Island: It is not uncommon to find cardinalfishes associated with Crown-of-Thorns Starfish at Lizard Island. Contrary to the observations of Stier et al (2009) in French Polynesia, this may occur in coral-rich areas.
Web resources
References
References that assist with identification
- Allen and M.V. Erdmann, G.R. (2012). Reef fishes of the East Indies. Volumes I-III in: Reef fishes of the East Indies. Tropical Reef Research, Perth, Australia. LIRS catalog number 90162.
- Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen and R.C. Steene (1997). Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea: Second edition Crawford House Publishing, Bathurst, NSW.
Other references
- Leis, J.M. and S. Bullock (1986). The luminous cardinalfish Siphamia (Pisces, Apogonidae): development of larvae and the luminous organ, "Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Indo-Pacific Fishes". : 703-714. LIRS catalog number 207.
- View all references