Apogonidae
family of fishes
Cardinalfishes are a family, Apogonidae, of ray-finned fishes found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans; they are chiefly marine, but some species are found in brackish water and a few (notably Glossamia) are found in fresh water. A handful of species are kept in aquariums and are popular as small, peaceful, and colourful fish. The family includes about 370 species.
They are generally small fish, with most species being less than 10 cm (4 in), and are often brightly coloured. They are distinguished by their large mouths, and the division of the dorsal fin into two separate fins. Most species live in tropical or subtropical waters, where they inhabit coral reefs and lagoons.
They are nocturnal, spending the day in dark crevices within the reef. At least some species brood their eggs inside the mouths of the males. Males do not feed during this incubation period. Males incubate the eggs in their mouth due to having longer heads and a larger jaw, which females do not acquire.
“Apogonidae” enters the record as family of fishes. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Apogonidae, family and fishes can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Apogonidae” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Apogonidae, family and fishes provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q728422.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Apogonidae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.