New host record of microhabitat preferences of the Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) in the introduced habitat in Luwuk waters, Sulawesi

U Y Arbi,A Faricha

doi:10.1088/1755-1315/944/1/012018

Abstract

Banggai cardinalfish Pterapogon kauderni is an endemic apogonid fish from Banggai Islands, Central Sulawesi, which is discovered in strong association with black sea urchin (Diadema spp.). These fish also protected themselves from predators associated with sea anemones, hard coral branching, mushroom coral, soft coral, seagrass, and mangrove roots. The Banggai cardinalfish juveniles generally prefer to associate with sea anemones or mushroom corals as microhabitats. However, they are looking for similar microhabitats if they cannot find sea anemones or mushroom coral Heliofungia actiniformis. Microhabitat observation of Banggai cardinalfish was carried out in Luwuk waters, Banggai Regency. The result showed a new host record for juvenile phases of Banggai cardinalfish associated with upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea andromeda as a microhabitat. Further study is needed to represent areas and seasons to get more evidence between the Banggai cardinalfish and jellyfish association concepts.

Highlights

The Banggai cardinalfish Pterapogon kauderni is a paternal mouthbrooder with tiny clutch size and no juvenile pelagic larval phase [1,2,3]
Our work focused on introducing Banggai cardinalfish at five locations (Figure 1), which were reported as introducing areas by trading impact, restocking, and another purpose
The nearest introduction area of Banggai cardinalfish is in Patikaman, about 120 km, which is separated by Paleng Strait with a strong current and 920 m depth [5]

Summary

Introduction

The Banggai cardinalfish Pterapogon kauderni is a paternal mouthbrooder with tiny clutch size and no juvenile pelagic larval phase [1,2,3]. Pterapogon kauderni has limited distribution in less than 10,000 km and has been found naturally only in the Banggai Archipelago off the east coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia because a pelagic larval phase is the main dispersal method in most reef fish [4,5,6]. The Banggai cardinalfish lives in groups mainly hovering within and above groups of long-spined sea urchins (Diadema setosum) [1, 3, 26,27,28]

Methods

Results

Conclusion