Doederlein's cardinalfish

Amazing fact

Doederlein’s cardinalfish has a black spot about the size of its pupil at the base of its tail.

新潟市水族館マリンピア日本海

Doederlein's cardinalfish in its habitat (illustration)

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An illustration based on the real animal.

A little discovery to share.

Doederlein’s cardinalfish has a black spot about the size of its pupil at the base of its tail.

Source新潟市水族館マリンピア日本海 — オオスジイシモチ

THE REAL WORLD

The real Doederlein's cardinalfish

Scientific name: Ostorhinchus doederleini
Japanese name: オオスジイシモチ
Group: Ocean animals

Order: Kurtiformes
Family: Apogonidae
Genus: Ostorhinchus

Facts about the real animal.

It is also listed under the scientific name Apogon doederleini.

A fish found mostly on rocky ground near the shore, from the coasts of Japan to southern Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines.

鳥羽水族館 — オオスジイシモチ

It is active at night and usually lives alone, but forms pairs when breeding.

鳥羽水族館 — オオスジイシモチ

The male guards the eggs by keeping them in his mouth.

鳥羽水族館 — オオスジイシモチ

How the Doederlein's cardinalfish lives

During the spawning season, females actively court males.

新潟市水族館マリンピア日本海

Basic data

Active: At night (nocturnal)
Range: Ibaraki, the Pacific from Chiba to Yakushima, Shimane to northern Kyushu, Amakusa and Goto Islands, and elsewhere

鳥羽水族館

Where the Doederlein's 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 livesJapan Asia 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: オオスジイシモチ
简体中文: 稻氏鹦竺鲷
繁體中文: 稻氏天竺鯛
한국어: 세줄얼게비늘
Français: Apogon de Doederlein
Português (Brasil): Cardeal-de-Taipei

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 — オオスジイシモチChecked: 2026-11-04
新潟市水族館マリンピア日本海 — オオスジイシモチChecked: 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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