Maldives Marine Life

Marine life of Maldivian waters

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Variegated cardinalfish
No photo available
Photo: GrandidierMadagascarFishes_0025.jpg: text Alfred Grandidier (1836-1921) artists: various (Karmanski) derivative work: Ha / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (view on Wikimedia Commons)Historical illustration. Source: GrandidierMadagascarFishes_0025.jpg; Commons file: Fowleria variegata.jpg

Variegated cardinalfish

Fowleria variegata

Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).

English
Variegated cardinalfish
Scientific
Fowleria variegata
Dhivehi
No recorded Dhivehi name
Group
Reef fish
Family
Apogonidae (cardinalfishes)
Maximum size
Up to about 8 cm (total length)
Depth and habitat
Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 27 m
IUCN status
LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2021

Description

A small, stocky cardinalfish mottled with brown, reaching about 8 cm. It lives in coral, rubble and seagrass in shallow lagoons and is nocturnal.

Sources

Dhivehi name source: No Dhivehi name found in MRS 1997 (available chapters), FishBase (country: Maldives) or Dhivehi Wikipedia.