Marine Life

Ghost cardinalfish

Loabodu bureki

Apogon savayensis

Apogon savayensis is one of a complex of three very similar species found in the Maldives, with Apogen guamensis being one of the others and the third yet to be scientifically described. It was previously recorded in the genus Ostorhynchus in the Catalogue of Fishes of the Maldives, Vol. 1, page 20.

Details

§ 01

size: Max. 10 cm
color: Overall coppery or silvery with a dark saddle on upper half of caudal fin base and wedge shaped bar below eye. Upper part of first dorsal fin black. Second dorsal and anal fin dusky. Caudal lobes darker than the rest of the tail.
order: Perciformes
family: Apogonidae
image url: https://assets.explore.mv/fishes/apogon-savayensis.png
habitat and biology: Typically found among the stag-horn coral, this species is nocturnal in nature.
distinctive characters: The first dorsal fin has seven spines, the second dorsal fin has one spine and nine rays, the anal fin has two spines and eight rays, and the pectoral fin has thirteen rays. The body depth is 2.7 in standard length and it has a broad body with a smooth ridge of preopercle and a finely serrated margin. The post-orbital of the head is almost equal to half of the eye diameter, and the first dorsal spine is short while the pectoral fin is longer than the pelvic fin.