Coral Siphonfish, Siphamia corallicola Allen 1993

Other Names: Coral Cardinalfish

Summary:

A siphonfish with reddish-brown to brown mottling or large blotches in five broad irregular bands separated by narrow silvery interspaces along the side, a silvery band across the top of the head at the rear of the eye, and an indistinct dark spot or blotch on the tail base.

Video of a male Coral Siphonfish (aka Coral Cardinalfish) brooding a mouthful of eggs.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2022, Siphamia corallicola in Fishes of Australia, accessed 08 Dec 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4970

Coral Siphonfish, Siphamia corallicola Allen 1993

More Info

Distribution	Recorded in Australia from Flat Top Bank, Timor Sea, west of Darwin, Northern Territory. Elswhere the species occurs in the tropical, west Pacific: Indonesia east to the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Groups of up to 40 individuals may hover above or shelter within branching corals such as the pocilloporid coral Seriatopora hystrix, and among sponges in protected bays, lagoons and coastal inlets.
Features	Dorsal fin VIII + 9; Anal fin II, 8; Pectoral fin 11-12; Lateral line incomplete 6-13 tubed scales. Light organ scattered with dark brown dots.
Biology	Forms breeding pairs.
Etymology	The specific name corallicola –icola, dweller or inhabitant, i.e., coral dwelling, referring to its habitat
Species Citation	Siphamia corallicola Allen, 1993, Revue Française d'Aquariologie et Herpétologie 20(1): 12, figs 4-6. Type locality: Tab Island, Madang, Papua New Guinea.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2022
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Coral Siphonfish, Siphamia corallicola Allen 1993

References

Allen, G.R. 1993. Cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, with descriptions of three new species. Revue Française d'Aquariologie et Herpétologie 20(1): 9-20.

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

Fraser, T.H. & Prokofiev, A.M. 2016. A new genus and species of cardinalfish (Percomorpha, Apogonidae, Sphaeramiini) from the coastal waters of Vietnam: luminescent or not? Zootaxa 4144(2): 227–242. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4144.2.5

Gon, O. & Allen, G.R. 2012. Revision of the Indo-Pacific cardinalfish genus Siphamia (Perciformes: Apogonidae). Zootaxa 3294: 1-84, https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3294.1.1.

Kuiter, R.H. & Kozawa, T. 2019. Cardinalfishes of the world. New Edition. Seaford, Victoria: Aquatic Photographics, and Okazaki, Aichi: 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.