Ring-tailed cardinalfish

The ring-tailed cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus aureus) is a widespread fish species in the family Apogonidae found in the Red Sea and off East Africa to Papua New Guinea, north to Japan, and south to Australia.[1]

Ring-tailed cardinalfish
A group of Ostorhinchus aureus with other cardinalfishes.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Kurtiformes
Family: Apogonidae
Genus: Ostorhinchus
Species:
O. aureus
Binomial name
Ostorhinchus aureus
Synonyms
  • Centropomus aureus Lacepède, 1802
  • Amia aurea (Lacepède, 1802)
  • Apogon aureus (Lacepède, 1802)
  • Gronovichthys aureus (Lacepède, 1802)
  • Apogon roseipinnis Cuvier, 1829

Taxonomy
Cladogram
 
 
 
 

O. semilineatus

 
 

O. gularis

 
 
 
 

O. apogonoides

 
 
 

O. aureus

 
 

O. flagelliferus

 
 
 
 
 
Selected genetic neighbours[2]

The French naturalist Philibert Commerson provided the first description of this fish from Réunion in the western Indian Ocean, but it was not published in a format allowing full citation. Therefore, the species name and description by Bernard Germain de Lacépède (who acknowledged Commerson) takes precedence, albeit with a nod to Commerson.[3] With no original or subsequent illustrations or specimens denoted as types, Fricke nominated a neotype in 1999 but subsequently withdrew it.[4]

Etymology

This species has on occasion been mistakenly considered a junior synonym of the similar species Ostorhinchus fleurieu, but is generally acknowledged as separate; it had the junior species synonym roseipinnis applied by Georges Cuvier in 1829.[5]

Lacépède coined the genus Ostorhinchus in 1802[6] to which O. aureus was eventually assigned,[7] although he originally placed it in the genus Centropomus which is now placed in a different fish family, Centropomidae.

Description

This fish is coppery-coloured with a broad blackish bar at the base of the tail, up to 14.5 cm in length. The upper jaw has a narrow blue streak, and a broad blackish stripe extends from the front of the snout to the eye. Easily confused with Ostorhinchus fleurieu,[8] where the black tail bar does not narrow in the centre, but unlike this species, the stripe is also present in juveniles.

Internally, O. aureus is one of a large group of nocturnal feeding fishes which has a black pigmented gut lining, apparently to hide the glow of bioluminescent prey from its own piscivores in turn.[9] The eyes of O. aureus allow the transmission of ultraviolet light,[10] which if it is proven to be able to see, could benefit its nocturnal foraging.

Meristics

Using a shorthand meristics formula, O. aureus can be described as having:

D, VII-I,9

A, II,8

P, 14

LL, 25

GR, 6-8 + 16-20[11]

Habitat

Ostorhinchus aureus inhabits holes in rocks or under ledges in shallow waters. It is known to occur in mixed aggregates with Ostorhinchus apogonoides during summer and autumn, but form separate aggregates in winter and spring.

Settlement

Whereas coral reef fish settlement tends to be dominated by larval recruitment, in at least part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, recruitment of O. aureus at any given coral reef patch tends to be by adult and juvenile migration across intervening sand and coral debris.[12]

Parasites

O. aureus is subject to infection by tiny cnidarian parasites from class Myxosporea. Fish specimens have been found with gall bladder infections of Ceratomyxa apogoni, Ceratomyxa cardinalis,[13] and Ellipsomyxa apogoni,.[14] Three species have also been found in skeletal muscle cells: Kudoa cheilodipteri, Kudoa whippsi,[15] and Kudoa iwatai.[16]

Behaviour

O.aureus is a nocturnal predator; where seagrass is adjacent to its reef, it tends to venture out further than some other members of its family.[17]

Diet

Studies of stomach contents show that O.aureus is a generalist predator, eating mainly planktonic and benthic crustaceans, but, unusually for its family, may at times also eat marine algae.[18]

Reproduction

O.aureus are external bearers, specifically mouth brooders. Adults tend to pair whilst juveniles tend to aggregate during the day time.[19]

Importance to humans

Aquariums

O. aureus is regularly kept by marine aquarists.[20]

References
  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). "Ostorhinchus aureus" in FishBase. December 2012 version.
  2. Mabuchi K., Fraser T.H., Song H., Azuma Y., Nishida M. (2014). "Revision of the systematics of the cardinalfishes (Percomorpha: Apogonidae) based on molecular analyses and comparative reevaluation of morphological characters". Zootaxa. 3846 (2): 151–203. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3846.2.1. PMID 25112246.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Lacépède, B. G. E. (1802) Histoire naturelle des poissons. v. 4, p.273
  4. Fricke, R. (2000) Invalid neotypes Copeia 2000 (no. 2): 639-640
  5. Eschmeyer, W. N. and R. Fricke, and R. van der Laan (eds). CATALOG OF FISHES: GENERA, SPECIES, REFERENCES Electronic version accessed 31 May 2018.
  6. Lacépède, B. G. E. (1802) Histoire naturelle des poissons. v. 4, p.23
  7. Randall, J. E. (2005) Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu. i-xii + 1-707.
  8. Lieske, E. and Myers, R.F. (2004) Coral reef guide; Red Sea London, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-715986-2
  9. Fishelson, L., M. Goren, and O. Gon (1997). "Black gut phenomenon in cardinal fishes (Apogonidae, Teleostei)" (PDF). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 161: 295–298. doi:10.3354/meps161295.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. Siebeck, U. E., and N. J. Marshall (2001). "Ocular media transmission of coral reef fish — can coral reef fish see ultraviolet light?". Vision Research. 41, 2: 133–149. doi:10.1016/S0042-6989(00)00240-6.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. Allen, G.R. and M.V. Erdmann 2012 Reef fishes of the East Indies. Tropical Reef Research, Perth, Australia. Volume I, p. 387.
  12. Lewis, A. R. (1997). "Recruitment and post-recruit immigration affect the local population size of coral reef fishes" (PDF). Vision Research. 16: 139–149. doi:10.1007/s003380050068.
  13. Heiniger, H., and R. D. Adlard (2013). "Molecular identification of cryptic species of Ceratomyxa Thélohan, 1892 (Myxosporea: Bivalvulida) including the description of eight novel species from apogonid fishes (Perciformes: Apogonidae) from Australian waters". Acta Parasitologica. 58 (3): 342–360. doi:10.2478/s11686-013-0149-3. PMID 23990433.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. Heiniger, H., and R. D. Adlard (2014). "Relatedness of novel species of Myxidium Butschli, 1882, Zschokkella Auerbach, 1910 and Ellipsomyxa Køie, 2003 (Myxosporea: Bivalvulida) from the gall ladders of marine fishes (Teleostei) from Australian waters". Systematic Parasitology. 87: 47–72. doi:10.1007/s11230-013-9454-3. PMID 24395575.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. Heiniger, H., Cribb T. H., and R. D. Adlard (2013). "Intra-specific variation of Kudoa spp. (Myxosporea: Multivalvulida) from apogonid fishes (Perciformes), including the description of two new species, K. cheilodipteri n. sp. and K. cookii n. sp., from Australian waters". Systematic Parasitology. 84: 193–215. doi:10.1007/s11230-012-9400-9. PMID 23404757.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. Burger, M. A. A. and R. D. Adlard (2011). "Low host specificity in the Kudoidae (Myxosporea: Multivalvulida) including seventeen new host records for Kudoa thalassomis". Folia Parasitologica. 58: 1–16. doi:10.14411/fp.2011.001.
  17. Kochzius, M. (1997). "Interrelation of ichthyofauna from a seagrass meadow and coral reef in the Philippines". Proceedings of the 5th Indo-Pacific Fisheries Conference, Nouméa. pp. 517–535.
  18. Frédérich, B., L. N. Michel, E. Zaeytydt, R. L. Bolaya, T. Lavitra, E. Parmentier, and G. Lepoint (2017). "Comparative Feeding Ecology of Cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) at Toliara Reef, Madagascar". Zoological Studies. 56: 1–14. doi:10.6620/ZS.2017.56-10.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. Yoshida, T., S. Harazaki, and H. Motomura (2010). "Apogonid fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes) of Yaku-shima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan". In Motomura, H., and K. Matsuura (ed.). Fishes of Yaku-shima Island (PDF). National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo. pp. 517–535.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. Ring-tailed cardinalfish - Apogon aureus AquaticCommunity.com
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