A silvery disc with a dark bar across the middle; lives under jetties and among mangrove roots.
To about 10 cm, silver-grey and nearly circular in outline, finely speckled in dark brown, with a single dark vertical bar running down through the pectoral fin base and a large eye. The pyjama cardinalfish is the close relative and is far more strongly marked, with a red-spotted rear body and a yellow face.
It hangs in groups under jetties, among mangrove roots and in shallow rubble in very shallow water, often in almost fresh conditions at river mouths, and feeds on small crustaceans at night. Males brood the eggs in the mouth. Because it is shallow and static it is one of the easier subjects on a jetty dive, though the water there is usually poor. Recorded from the surface to about 5 m.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
