Banggai Cardinalfish
Pterapogon kauderni
Sighting evidence at Pig Island, Madang
Banggai cardinalfish hover in loose shoals among the spines of long-spined sea urchins and the tentacles of crinoids around Pig Island's reef, using these invertebrates as protective refuges from predators. Males are mouthbrooders, incubating eggs and then juveniles in their buccal cavity for up to 30 days — one of the longest mouthbrooding periods of any fish — and they stop feeding entirely during this period, an extreme parental investment strategy that produces unusually well-developed juveniles at release.
Evidence at this site
No confirmed records on file at this site
Banggai Cardinalfish is listed as a curated species here based on historical reports.