The banggai cardinal fish is white with black bands crossing it vertically. It is a fish with a large mouth, sharp, cutting dorsal fins, completely separate from the soft ones and generally raised. These are fish of night habits that hide among the coral during the day, living in small groups.
It is a carnivore that hunts at night, feeding on annelids and plankton.

Its reproduction is oviparous. The male incubates the eggs in its mouth until they hatch.

The banggai cardinal fish is a fish that lives on the coral reefs on sandy or rocky beds. It abounds among the fields of the Enhalus seaweed.

The fact that it has night habits means that its eyes are very large.

Conservation status