CARDINALFISH
APOGONIDAE
Flamefish
Apogon  maculatus
    Ecological Descriptors
Habitat Size (cm) Diet Behaviour Sex 
R , Co 11 Pla, Noct Sh F
Description:
Red to dusky red with a
round black spot beneath rear of second dorsal fin and a broad blackish bar or solid band on caudal peduncle (can be pale or dark).  Eye with blue/ white horizontal lines top and bottom. Often dark stripe behind eye. Body can pale considerably.
The only other Cardinalfish with 2 eye stripes, the  Twospot Cardinalfish (not yet recorded in Antigua) A. pseudomaculatus, has a dark spot at base of tail, rather than a bar.


Ecology
This reef-associated species is commonly found in seagrass beds, tidepools and coral reefs high-energy reef crests. A nocturnal species, it remains hidden in cracks and crevices during the day, before emerging to feed on plankton during the night. This species may reside in the rubble mounds made by the sand tilefish Malacanthus plumieri. Predated on by Lionfish. From depths of 1m to more than 100 m (3 to 300+ ft).

Life Cycle
Males are mouth brooders and do not feed until the eggs hatch. The eggs in the oral cavity also impede respiration, hence such males are rather secretive and quiescent. They form distinct pairs during courtship and breed throughout the year.
Flamefish
Flamefish
Male mouthbrooding eggs
570
315
Flamefish
587