Apogon Compressus

''Ostorhinchus compressus'', commonly called the ochre-striped cardinalfish, blue-eyed cardinalfish or split banded cardinalfish, is a marine cardinalfish from the Indo-West Pacific from the family Apogonidae. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 12 cm in length.

Taxonomy

This fish was first described by Hugh McCormick Smith and Lewis Radcliffe after its collection during the 1907-1910 United States Bureau of Fisheries Albatross Philippines expedition.Radcliffe, L. (1911)
Notes on some fishes of the genus Amia, family of Cheilodipteridae, with descriptions of four new species from the Philippine Islands. (Scientific results of the Philippine cruise of the Fisheries steamer "Albatross," 1907-1910.--No. 12.)
''Proceedings of the United States National Museum v. 41 (no. 1853): 245-261, Pls. 20-25'' The holotype (record number USNM 68398) is lodged at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.USNM records search
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Etymology

The genus ''Amia'' initially allocated by the authors subsequently proved to be a synonym of ''Ostorhinchus'', making its way via '' Apogon''.

Description

Although the maximum recorded standard length of ''O. compressus'' is 12 cm, its most common adult length is around 8.5 cm. Adults are pinkish-white, with six brown stripes along each side, iridescent blue eye rings, and up to four brown spots on the caudal peduncle (tail base). Juveniles begin with a black spot on a yellow caudal peduncle, which appears to mimic juveniles of certain piscivorous species of ''Cheilodipterus''.

Meristics

Using a shorthand meristics formula, ''O. compressus'' can be described as having:

D, VI-I,9

A II,9

P, 13-14

LL, 24

GR, 7-8 + 20-22Allen, G.R. and M.V. Erdmann 2012 Reef fishes of the East Indies. Tropical Reef Research, Perth, Australia. Volume I, p. 390.

Distribution and habitat

Range

''Ostorhinchus compressus'' occurs in Australian waters from the Scott Reef, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and Rowley Shoals in Western Australia; and from the Great Barrier Reef to the Middleton & Elizabeth Reefs Reserve and Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. Its wider distribution extends through the Indo-Pacific from the Andaman Sea to Vanuatu and New Caledonia and as far north as southern Japan.

Ontology

Research on the larval stage of this species shows that as it develops, its ability to see in ultraviolet light increases. Given that the larval stage is pelagic, this implies that older larvae can migrate down the water column to feed. This might improve its predator evasion, whilst improving its food intake.

Settlement

Generally found from 2–20 metres, adults rest during the daytime in floating mixed species groups with other Apogonids. They are not very picky, being found resting in association with several kinds of live hard coral, Gorgonians, dead coral, rubble, and sand. Possibly because of the low water circulation, higher temperatures, and high oxygen consumption of some of the shallow branching corals into which ''O. compressus'' retreats from predators, it has been found to tolerate very low dissolved levels of oxygen, even at a temperature of 30 °C (which is likely to stimulate a relatively high resting metabolic rate).

Parasites

The gills of ''O. compressus'' have been found infected with Gyrodactylid flatworms.

References

External links

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q3751933

compressus
Fish described in 1911