Coral cardinalfish

Amazing fact

Coral cardinalfish also gather between sea urchin spines.

新潟市水族館マリンピア日本海

Coral cardinalfish in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

Coral cardinalfish also gather between sea urchin spines.

Source新潟市水族館マリンピア日本海 — キンセンイシモチ

THE REAL WORLD

The real Coral cardinalfish

Scientific name: Ostorhinchus properuptus
Japanese name: キンセンイシモチ
Group: Ocean animals

Order: Kurtiformes
Family: Apogonidae
Genus: Ostorhinchus

Facts about the real animal.

It is also listed under the scientific name Apogon properuptus.

It lives in schools on rocky and coral reefs in warm waters from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.

鳥羽水族館 — キンセンイシモチ

Its body is yellow or orange.

鳥羽水族館 — キンセンイシモチ

Clear white or pale blue stripes run from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail.

鳥羽水族館 — キンセンイシモチ

How the Coral cardinalfish lives

Young fish also form small groups in harbours and among rocks. During breeding, a male and female leave the school to form a pair. After spawning, the male holds the eggs in his mouth and guards them until they hatch.

Museums Victoria いおワールドかごしま水族館

Basic data

Range: Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean

鳥羽水族館

Where the Coral cardinalfish has been recorded

Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF

Where it livesWorld oceans Coral reefs Coasts

Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.

Names around the world

日本語: キンセンイシモチ
简体中文: 黄带天竺鲷
繁體中文: 黃帶天竺鯛
Português (Brasil): Cardeal-sol

Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.

Sources and how we check

鳥羽水族館 — キンセンイシモチChecked: 2026-11-04
新潟市水族館マリンピア日本海 — キンセンイシモチChecked: 2026-11-07
いおワールドかごしま水族館 — キンセンイシモチChecked: 2026-11-07
Museums Victoria — Coral Cardinalfish, Ostorhinchus properuptusChecked: 2026-11-07

We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.

The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.

The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.

This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.

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