Sailfin Cardinalfish, Quinca mirifica Mees 1966
A Sailfin Cardinalfish, Quinca mirifica, photographed in shallow water (<2m) just after dark at Heron Point, Learmonth, Western Australia, November 2019. Source: Glen Whisson / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial
Summary:
A relatively large uniformly black cardinalfish with a white tail, found only in coastal waters of north Western Australia. The species has a very tall second dorsal fin with 14 rays, and very long pelvic fins that extend well beyond the anal-fin origin.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2024, Quinca mirifica in Fishes of Australia, accessed 03 Jul 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4230
Sailfin Cardinalfish, Quinca mirifica Mees 1966
More Info
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Distribution |
Endemic to Western Australia, from North West Cape to north of Kalumburu, on the Kimberley Coast. Inhabits dark overhangs and crevices on shallow reefs during the day, emerging to feed at night. The holotype was collected at low tide on the reef at Cockatoo Island, Yampi Sound. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin VII + I,14; Anal fin 11, 13. |
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Biology |
During courtship, male Sailfin Cardinalfish dramatically change colour from their normal deep-black to a brilliant silvery/white on most of their body including areas of the dorsal and pelvic fins. Males orally incubate the eggs, and the species lacks a larval dispersal period. |
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Fisheries |
The species has been reared in captivity and may appear in the aquarium trade. |
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Etymology |
The specific name is from the Latin mirificus (= wonderful, miraculous) presumably in reference to the "unexpected" and "aberrant" character of this species having 14 soft dorsal-fin rays. |
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Species Citation |
Quinca mirifica Mees 1966, J. Roy. Soc. W. A. 49(3): 83, fig. 1. Type locality: Cockatoo Island, Yampi Sound, Western Australia. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2024 |
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Resources |
Sailfin Cardinalfish, Quinca mirifica Mees 1966
References
Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.
Allen, G.R. 1999. Apogonidae. pp. 2602-2610 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds) The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790.
Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls (as Pterapogon mirifica)
Fraser, T.H. 2010. A new deepwater species of the genus Apogonichthyoides (Apogonidae) from the Timor Sea, north-western Australia. aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 16(3): 93-100.
Fraser, T.H. & Allen, G.R. 2010. Cardinalfish of the genus Apogonichthyoides Smith, 1949 (Apogonidae) with a description of a new species from the West-Pacific region. Zootaxa 2348: 40-56.
Hutchins, B. 2004. Fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 66: 343–398.
Hutchins, J.B. 1994. A survey of the nearshore reef fish fauna of Western Australia's west and south coasts — The Leeuwin Province. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 46: 1-66 figs 1-6
Kuiter, R.H. & Kozawa, T. 2019. Cardinalfishes of the world. New edition. Seaford, Victoria: Aquatic Photographics, and Okazaki, Aichi, Japan: Anthias, Nexus, 198 pp.
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. https://doi.org/10.11646/ZOOTAXA.3846.2.1
Mees, G.F. 1966. A new fish of the family Apogonidae from tropical Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 49(3): 83-84 fig. 1 See ref at BHL
Vagelli, A.A. 2014. Ephemeral sexual dichromatism in Quinca mirifica (Teleostei, Apogonidae), a black apogonid with solitary behavior. aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 20(1): 1-10
Vagelli, A.A. 2019. The reproductive biology and embryology of Quinca mirifica, an apogonid with direct development that produces non-functional oocytes. Copeia 107(1): 36-60 https://doi.org/10.1643/CI-18-070
Williams, J.T. 2022. Quinca mirifica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T198376833A199991168. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T198376833A199991168.en. Accessed on 10 July 2024.
