Hiding in crevices, overhangs on rocky bottom or among seagrasses
The cardinal fish, Apogon imberbis (Linnaeus, 1758) – Apogonidae
Apogon imberbis (Linnaeus 1758) is a pretty orange-red fish, with large black eyes barred with two iridescent white horizontal streaks. It can reach 15 cm in length but is often smaller (less than 10 cm). Nocturnal, it is wary and hides under overhangs, or in rocky crevices (or even deeper, at the entrance to caves or near wrecks lying on the sea bottom). It feeds on small fishes and invertebrates. Its bathymetric distribution varies according to the seasons (2 to 50 meters in summer, up to 200 meters the rest of the year).
Geographic distribution. Mediterranean but also along the coasts of the Eastern Atlantic, from the south of the Bay of Biscay to the Gulf of Guinea, as well as in the islands of Azores, Cape Verde and Canaries.
Reproduction is very peculiar! Apogon breeds in late spring and summer. The female is fertilized during a courtship display, and a few days after mating, she lays up to 20,000 embryonated eggs which coalesce into a gelatinous pellet. The male then grabs this amalgam in the mouth, spits it out, takes it again, several times successively to compact it. It will then keep it in the oral cavity for almost a week (oral incubation), will stop feeding and ensure the oxygenation of the eggs (water circulation induced by the jerky movements of the opercula).
During this period, males and females are easy to recognize because the male’s oral cavity is deformed (his head is then stocky, his lower jaw prominent… which gives him the appearance of a bulldog!). Upon hatching, the larvae leave the oral cavity for the open water. The male can repeat this incubation behavior almost four times with different females… but successive fasting can cause him to die of starvation.
Coming …
The lettered perch or the painted comber, Serranus scriba
The comber or the gaper, Serranus cabrilla
The grouper, Epinephelus marginates
The moray-eel, Muraena helena