Yellowstriped Cardinalfish

Ostorhinchus cyanosoma

Also known as Goldstriped Cardinalfish, Orange-lined Cardinalfish

SaltwaterFish

Yellowstriped Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus cyanosoma) — This photo has been taken by Matthieu Sontag (User:Mirgolth) and released under the licenses stated below. You are free to use it for any purpose as long as you credit me as author, Wikimedia Commons as site and follow the terms of the licenses. Could you be kind enough to leave me a message on this page to inform me about your use of this picture. · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 3.1 in (8 cm)
Minimum tank: 30 gal (114 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Common
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Indo-Pacific reefs, from the Red Sea to Fiji
Family: Apogonidae

Overview

A genuinely peaceful schooling fish that does best in groups of five or more introduced at the same time; a proper school settles in faster, swims out in the open more, and squabbles less than a single fish left to hold its own territory. It is safe with corals and most reef invertebrates but may pick off very small shrimp or amphipods. Offer a varied diet of mysis, brine shrimp and other meaty frozen foods a few times a day, since these slow, deliberate feeders can lose out to faster tankmates at mealtime.

In the wild

Ranges across the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea and East Africa to Fiji, north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to New Caledonia, where it shoals over lagoon and seaward reefs, often hovering among branching coral or the spines of long-spined urchins. Keep a group in at least 114 liters (30 gallons) with open swimming space plus caves, coral branches or urchins for the school to retreat into when startled.

Good to know

Like its cardinalfish relatives, the yellowstriped cardinalfish is a mouthbrooder: males collect the fertilized eggs and incubate them in their mouths until the fry are ready to disperse. In the wild it forms dense, mixed-age aggregations that can number in the hundreds, its silvery, striped body helping it blend into the crowd and confuse predators.

Did you know

Unlike most of its secretive, shadow-hugging cardinalfish relatives, the yellowstriped cardinalfish stays out in the open with its school through the day instead of hiding until dark.