🐠 Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni)
A Silver Body With Bold Black Stripes and White-Spotted Fins • A Graceful, Unhurried Swimmer • A Naturally Restricted Range, Captive-Bred Favoured
 
📋 The Banggai Cardinalfish is a strikingly patterned marine fish prized for its elegant silver body, bold black vertical stripes, and elongated fins dotted with white spots, a combination that makes it one of the most recognisable species in the reef aquarium trade.
It comes from the shallow lagoons and reef flats of Indonesia's Banggai Archipelago, an unusually restricted natural range for a marine aquarium fish, which is why we favour captive-bred stock, helping ease pressure on wild populations. Every Banggai Cardinalfish we ship is feeding well.
Naturally slow-moving and unhurried, this species hovers gracefully in open water rather than darting like many reef fish, making it a calming presence in a peaceful reef or nano tank. Unlike most marine species, it's a mouthbrooder, with males carrying fertilised eggs and, remarkably, newly hatched fry in their mouths until the young are ready to fend for themselves. It's fully reef safe, compatible with corals and most reef invertebrates. It reaches 7-8cm, so a 75L tank suits it well.
 
💡 Highlights
⚫ Bold Black and White Pattern: Vertical stripes and white-spotted fins create a striking silhouette
🐟 Slow, Graceful Swimmer: Hovers in open water rather than darting, ideal for calm reef displays
🧠 Reef and Nano Tank Friendly: Well suited to smaller peaceful reef setups
🌿 Fully Reef Safe: Compatible with corals and most reef invertebrates
🐣 A Fascinating Mouthbrooder: Males carry eggs and fry in their mouths, a rare trait among marine fish