Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 29, 2026

Sphaeramia orbicularis

The orbiculate cardinalfish, chubby cardinal, or polka-dot cardinalfish is a species of Apogonidae (cardinalfishes). It grows to about 10 cm total length, and has a thin, dark vertical 'waistband' with scattered dark spots toward the tail. It is found in coastal areas throughout much of the Indo-Pacific, including off East Africa, Kiribati, the Ryukyu Islands, New Caledonia, Belau, and the eastern Caroline and Mariana Islands.

Last revised
Jun 29, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
157 w
Citations
5
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Sphaeramia orbicularis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Gobiiformes
Family: Apogonidae
Genus: Sphaeramia
Species:
S. orbicularis
Binomial name
Sphaeramia orbicularis
(G. Cuvier, 1828)
Synonyms
  • Apogon orbicularis Cuvier, 1828
  • Siphamia orbicularis (Cuvier, 1828)

The orbiculate cardinalfish, chubby cardinal, or polka-dot cardinalfish (Sphaeramia orbicularis)1 is a species of Apogonidae (cardinalfishes). It grows to about 10 cm total length, and has a thin, dark vertical 'waistband' with scattered dark spots toward the tail. It is found in coastal areas throughout much of the Indo-Pacific, including off East Africa, Kiribati, the Ryukyu Islands, New Caledonia, Belau, and the eastern Caroline and Mariana Islands.1

The male incubates the eggs until they hatch.1 It eats mostly planktonic crustaceans, mainly at night.1 It is not a common marine aquarium fish.2

References

References

  1. Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds. Sphaeramia orbicularis. FishBase. 2011.
  2. Michael S. (1999). Marine Fishes. Microcosm. p. 151. ISBN 1-890087-38-6.
External links