No photo available
Fiveline cardinalfish
Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Fiveline cardinalfish
- Scientific
- Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 13 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 40 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2021
Description
A slender cardinalfish, whitish with five narrow black stripes, a yellow patch at the tail base with a small black spot in the centre, and long canine teeth. It gathers in small to large groups in crevices, branching coral and among the spines of sea urchins on reef flats and lagoons. At night it hunts small crustaceans, snails and fish.
In the Maldives
One of the most common cardinalfish on shallow Maldivian reefs.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Cheilodipterus-quinquelineatus.html
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Apogónido_(Cheilodipterus_quinquelineatus),_mar_Rojo,_Egipt
Dhivehi name source: No Dhivehi name found in MRS 1997 (available chapters), FishBase (country: Maldives) or Dhivehi Wikipedia.