Dog-Toothed Cardinalfish

Cheilodipterus isostigmus

Dorsal spines (total): 7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 8. Distinguished externally from C. quinquelineatus by the position of the basicaudal spot which is in line with the mid-lateral stripe, and internally by having canine teeth at the end of the lower jaw.
Cheilodipterus_isostigmus & Eviota bifasciata Diver's Lodge House Reef, Lembeh. The Dog-Toothed Cardinalfish is the bigger fish cruising by in the upper left. The small ones are Eviota bifasciata, already introduced in a previous posting. The cardinalfish eats smaller fishes so I wonder if he was stalking the school of Eviota or they are still not small enough for him. Cheilodipterus isostigmus,Dog-Toothed Cardinalfish,Geotagged,Indonesia,Spring

Distribution

Indo-Pacific: Maldives, Philippines and Palau south to Indonesia; east to Tonga . Also in Moluccas, Belau, and Caroline.
Dog-Toothed Cardinalfish - Cheilodipterus isostigmus Cheilodipterus isostigmus,Dog-Toothed Cardinalfish,Fall,Geotagged,Indonesia

Habitat

Occurs in lagoon reefs to depths of at least 12 m. Usually in small groups among staghorn corals. Often collected with C. quinquelineatus, but tends to prefer deeper areas. Feeds on small fishes.

Reproduction

Mouthbrooders. Distinct pairing during courtship and spawning.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

https://www.fishbase.de/summary/5779
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderKurtiformes
FamilyApogonidae
GenusCheilodipterus
SpeciesCheilodipterus isostigmus
Photographed in
Indonesia