Orangelined cardinalfish
Taeniamia fucata
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Orangelined cardinalfish
- Scientific
- Taeniamia fucata
- Dhivehi
- ލައްފަތާLaffathaa
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 10 cm (total length); commonly 5.9 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 2 to 60 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2021
Description
A small, deep-bodied cardinalfish with a semi-transparent pinkish body crossed by many thin orange vertical lines and a black spot at the tail base. It forms dense aggregations at cave entrances and among branching corals in sheltered lagoons by day and disperses to feed at night.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi name laffathaa (MRS 1997). Cardinalfish of this kind are among the reef fish taken as live bait in the Maldivian pole-and-line fishery.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Taeniamia-fucata.html
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ލައްފަތާ
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Taeniamia_fucata_333911323.jpg
Dhivehi name source: Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ލައްފަތާ' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition). No published Latin-script form found; 'Laffathaa' is Pax's transliteration of the Thaana (Malé Latin conventions). FishBase also lists 'Rybodi' under India (Minicoy/Lakshadweep Mahl dialect); not used. FLAG: Latin form is a transliteration, not a published spelling.