Twinspot Cardinalfish, Taeniamia biguttata (Lachner 1951)


Twinspot Cardinalfish, Taeniamia biguttata, at Marchinbar Island, Wessel Islands, Northern Territory, August 2013. Source: Ian Shaw / iNaturalist.org. License: CC BY Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A greyish pink cardinalfish with many narrow orange bars on the side, a large black spot at the upper edge of the gill cover, a broad dark bar below the eye (sometimes indistinct), and a pupil-sized black spot on the middle of the caudal peduncle.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2017, Taeniamia biguttata in Fishes of Australia, accessed 28 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/5318

Twinspot Cardinalfish, Taeniamia biguttata (Lachner 1951)

More Info


Distribution

Northern Australia including the Wessel Islands, Northern Territory, and the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Forms aggregation sin caves and crevices in lagoons and on sheltered reefs. Elsewhere the species occurs in the west-Pacific: Indonesia, north to the Philippines and Taiwan, south to Papua New Guinea and northern Australia, and east to Samoa.

Features

Dorsal fin VII + I, 9; Anal fin II, 14-19; Pectoral fin 13-15 (usually 14); Lateral-line scales 25 + 3-5; Median predorsal scales 5-6 (usually 6); Gill rakers 5-7 + 15-18 (total, 20-24). 
Body depth 2.3-2.85 in SL, and body width 2.3-2.7 in the depth; eye diameter 2.7-3.1 in head length; first dorsal spine 2.0-2.9 in second spine; second dorsal spine 2.1-2.6, and third dorsal spine 2.2-2.7 in head length; spine of second dorsal fin 2.3-2.6, and second anal spine 2.5-2.9 in head length; pelvic-fin length 4.3-5.3, and caudal-peduncle length 4.9-5.9 in SL. Distance from insertion of pelvic spine to anal-fin origin 4.2-5.5 in SL. Posterior preopercular edge fully serrate or nearly so; serrae on upper part usually minute, rarely absent; ventral preopercular edge serrate on posterior two-thirds. Scaly sheath along anal-fin base well developed.

Similar Species

Differs from the similar Blackspot Cardinalfish, Taeniamia melasma, in having a spot on the caudal peduncle (vs. absent in T. melasma). T melasma may also have a diffuse dark bar below the large spot above the gill cover.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2017

Twinspot Cardinalfish, Taeniamia biguttata (Lachner 1951)

References


Allen, G.R. 1993. Cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, with descriptions of three new species. Rev. Fr. Aquariol. 20(1): 9-20.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Fraser, T.H. 2013. A new genus of cardinalfish (Apogonidae: Percomorpha), redescription of Archamia and resemblances and relationships with Kurtus (Kurtidae: Percomorpha). Zootaxa 3714(1): 1–63.

Gon, O. & Randall, J.E. 2003. Revision of the Indo-Pacific cardinalfish genus Archamia (Perciformes: Apogonidae), with description of a new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 35: 1-49. 

Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls.

Kuiter, R.H. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 1. Eels - Snappers, Muraenidae - Lutjanidae. Australia : Zoonetics pp. 1-302.

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.

Quick Facts


Depth:3-18 m

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:9 cm TL

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