The Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) one of the most popular in the aquarium trade. Easy to keep and peaceful in nature. It can grow up to 3 inches in length. They are from the Banggai Islands off Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Banggai Cardinalfish lives in shallow sheltered bays and harbors, mainly on silty reef flats with sandy bottoms and sea grass beds.
Depth distribution is generally ranges between 0.5 and 6 m, but is most commonly found between 1.5 and 2.5 m. Banggai inhabit very clear waters in coral reef areas, while others inhabit still, murky bays, and some groups lead in sandy patches associates with anemones, and less commonly, in open habitats (low branching corals and rubble).
This species inhabits a variety of shallow habitats, including coral reefs (51% of identified groups), seagrass beds (35%), and open areas of sand and rubble (14%).
Banggai is white colored with three black strips going vertical across its body and two horizontal towards the tail fin and the body is covered with diamonds in proportion, one of the vertical black line passes through it’s eye. They are reef safe. Banggai are being bred across the world. Easy feeders and feed on almost every thing we have from flakes to pallets and frozen food. They swim to there own tune and would find a hiding spot for sheltering them from danger. They swim inside the long-spined sea urchins and branching corals.
Prefer tank mates are the peaceful ones as aggressive one might stress them. They prefer low flow of water in the aquarium. They are perfect for community tank and when kept more than one, the grace of Banggai is striking. The Banggai cardinalfish is a mouth breeders and the male specimen keeps the eggs till mature. The species has a short life span, reaching around four years in optimal conditions.
Banggai Cardinalfish Endangered
Due to limited geographic range limited only to Indonesia island. Banggai cardinalfish lists Endangered in IUCN RED LIST.
