Specklehead Cardinalfish

This species is distinguished by the following characters: body with variable sized brownish spots in size (on jaws, snout, interorbital, nape, preopercle, subopercle, and abdomen); a dark wedge-shaped bar below the eye; rows of small brown dots, one per scale, in three rows - the uppermost along lateral line, the middle along lateral midline from behind opercle flap to mid-caudal peduncle, and the third parallel to second, from behind pectoral fin to above middle of anal fin; a large dark blotch on distal membranes of third and fourth dorsal-fin spines; with a small dark-brown spot on body at the base of last two branched dorsal-fin rays; a brownish stripe in second dorsal fin, transparent above and below, anal fin without stripe; pectoral-fin rays 14; median predorsal scales on nape 3; gill rakers1 + 8 ,3 upper and 3 lower rudiments; multicolored iris in life (Ref. 118651).

Mouthbrooders (Ref. 240). Distinct pairing during courtship and spawning (Ref. 205).

Dorsal spines (total): 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Analspines: 2; Analsoft rays: 8

The two known specimens were collected from under a piece of dead-coral rubble on a gradually sloping sand bottom at 40 m depth (Ref. 118651).