No photo available
Wolf cardinalfish
Cheilodipterus artus
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Wolf cardinalfish
- Scientific
- Cheilodipterus artus
- Dhivehi
- Vadaan kashi
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 19 cm (standard length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 3 to 158 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2021
Description
A cardinalfish with a pale mauve to grey body striped with eight reddish-brown lines and a dark tail base; juveniles have a small black spot inside a large gold blotch on the tail base. It gathers in loose groups in caves and above branching corals and preys on small fish.
In the Maldives
Recorded in Dhivehi as vadaan kashi (FishBase, Maldives).
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Cheilodipterus-artus.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=5780&GenusName=Cheilodipterus&Species
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Apogónido_(Cheilodipterus_artus),_Mahé,_Seychelles,_2025-09
Dhivehi name source: FishBase common names (country: Maldives) give 'Vadaan kashi' (Latin script). FLAG: single source.