Apogon pacificus

Pink cardinalfish
Apogon pacificus
Apogon pacificus, Machalilla, Ecuador, Photo: Graham Edgar

Distribution

Tropical Eastern Pacific


Description

Translucent red, to orange to pink with yellow highlights, with a narrow bar from the joining point of the first and second dorsal fins fading onto lower sides, and a stripe from snout through eye fading on gill cover. Eye with yellow top and bottom edges. Generally hides in caves and under ledges during the day, coming out to feed in the open at night.


Information

Max Size: 10 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 13.9-30.2°C

Depth: 1-60m

Habitat Generalization Index: 0.8

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Occurrence: Frequent (13.7% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Large aggregations (110 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.


Edit by: Joe Shields