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[edit] Banggai, Longfin or Kaudern's Cardinalfish Scientific Name Pterapogon kauderni Max. Size: 3 inches Tank Size: 20 gallons Aggression: Semi-aggressive Hardiness: Hardy Reef-Safe: Yes Available as captive-bred: yes

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Physical Description

The Pterapogon kauderni are attractively patterned black and silver and tend to live between the spines of sea urchins. Like most cardinalfish they have large eyes and reside in the crevices and beneath rock ledges by day, searching for food at night . While they can attain a length of 2 to 2,5 inches (some might grow up to eight inches or more in the wild) most specimens encountered in the fish stores are 1 to 1,5 inches.

The males are mouth-brooders, but unlike other cardinalfish who incubate their eggs orally only until they hatch, the Pterapogon kauderni male shelters the young for the first weeks post hatching. The number of juveniles ranges from 26-35.

Life expectance is 5 years or more.

Distribution

Pterapogon kauderni or Banggai Cardinalfish is restricted in distribution to a limited geographic range, namely <10,000 km² within the Banggai Archipelago, eastern Indonesia, though they are commercially produced in good numbers in Indonesia and elsewhere.

Taxonomic classification

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata (Vertebrates)

Superclass: Osteichthyes (bony fishes)

Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)

Order: Perciformes (perch-like)

Family: Apogonidae (Cardinalfishes)

-Genus: Pterapogon

-Species: kauderni

Behavior

The Banggai Cardinal generally act peacefully toward other fish. Provide a large dark shelter-space.

Feeding

The Pterapogon kauderni is a carnivore and likes to eat a variety of food, among which bloodworms, feeder shrimp, marine flesh.

Breeding

These fish have been successfully bred in captivity. The male broods the eggs and later the fry in his mouth cavity. The male does not eat at this time and will hold the brood of around 25 fry for 4-5 weeks. Juveniles use sea urchins and sea anemones for protection. Fry can then be raised on brine shrimp nauplii enriched with marine lipid supplements.

Social Structure

Bangaii Cardinals are best kept in pairs, as pairs will turn aggressive to others of its own kind.

Current Views

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Water Conditions

Keep water quality high. pH : 8.1 - 8.4 Temperature : 75°F - 82°F (25°C - 28°C) Specific Gravity : 1.023 - 1.025 Carbonate Hardness (dKH) : 8 - 12°

Additional Notes

Before you purchase this fish, ask the retailer where they come from. If they are wild caught, please don't buy them, but buy aquacultured specimens. There are two good reasons for doing so: over collection of the fish is making it an endangered species and the wild caught specimens are subject to stress and disease bought on by capture, handling and shipping, or possible after-effects of collection practices in Indonesia. The captive raised Banggai Cardinal Fish however usually acclimate much easier than wild caught fish.

Price: When Banggai cardinalfish were first introduced to the aquarium trade in 1995, prices were about US$100/fish. Reports indicate that the capture and handling of wild fish was better in the early and there was a fair chance that a wild fish would live long enough to breed in captivity. Prices have steadily declined since that time, despite concerns about over-collection of wild specimens. Likewise, the survival of these wild-caught fish in the distribution chain and in the home aquarium has declined dramatically. Currently, the retail price for Banggai cardinalfish is approximately US$15 each for wild-caught fish and US$25 each for captive-bred fish.