Apogon maculatus
Flamefish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Apogonidae (Cardinalfishes)
Apogon
Apogon maculatus (Flamefish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
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Characters
Dorsal profile of head is evenly convex, and snout is blunt. Jaws, vomer, and palatine have narrow bands of villiform teeth. Preopercular ridge is smooth, and posterior margin of preoperculum is finely serrated and rounded at angle, with fleshy posteroventral process not extending beyond its serrated margin. Gill rakers on first arch number 4 or 5 on upper limb and 13 or 14 on lower limb. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 39%–41%, snout length 9%–10%, eye diameter 12%–14%, upper jaw length 21%–22%, caudal peduncle length 22%–25%, body depth 34%–37%. Pectoral fin has 12 rays, first dorsal fin has six slender spines, second dorsal fin has one spine and 9 rays, and anal fin has two spines and 8 rays. Caudal fin is emarginate. Scales are ctenoid and deciduous. Median predorsal scales number 7 or 8, and circumpeduncular scales number 19 or 20.
Color is deep orangish red, with black bar behind eye on operculum, two white stripes passing through eye, black spot below second dorsal fin, and black saddle on caudal peduncle extending below lateral line.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Massachusetts and Bermuda to Venezuela, including the entire Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas.
Habitat Associations
Near shore to 100 m
Biology
Maximum known size is 85 mm SL.
Commonly found along sea walls and pilings, in harbors, and coral reefs. A nocturnal species, it remains hidden in cracks and crevices during the day (Ref. 9626). Reaches depths of more than 100 m (Ref. 9626). Males with eggs have been spotted in Bahamas in June and July (Ref. 26938). Most common cardinalfish in the aquarium trade.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; bearers (external brooders); parental care: paternal. Mouthbrooders (Ref. 240). Spawning may occur throughout the year (Ref. 39366). Distinct pairing during courtship and spawning (Ref. 205).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-03-10. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Böhlke and Randall 1968
Randall 1968a, 1996
Bright and Cashman 1974
Sonnier et al. 1976
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Hastings 1979
Williams and Shipp 1980
Robins and Ray 1986
Boschung 1992
Cervigón 1993b
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Gon 2002a
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Cervigón, F. (1993) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 2. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 497 p.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Charney, P. (1976) Oral brooding in the cardinalfishes Phaeoptyx conklini and Apogon maculatus from the Bahamas. Copeia 1976(1):198-200.
Vagelli, A.A. (2019) The reproductive biology and embryology of Quinca mirifica, an apogonid with direct development that produces non-functional oocytes. Copeia 107(1):36-60. DOI: 10.1643/CI-18-070
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