This fish wins the father of the year

Not only does the cardinalfish, Simphamia tubifer, carry its very own nightlight, but the father fish also carries the eggs it has fertilized until they hatch.

S. tubifer uses bacterially produced light while foraging for food near coral reefs at night. The light organ is located in the fish’s abdomen between the pelvic fins. The blue-green light illuminates the entire belly of the fish. During the daytime, the fish remain in groups among the protective spines of long-spined sea urchins. The spines are sharp and venomous.

These remarkable fish are paternal mouthbrooders – the male fish carry the eggs in their mouths and nurture them through their development into larvae.

According to fishbase.org, S. tubifer live in the Indo-West Pacific: from the Red Sea south to Madagascar and east through the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and India to the Andaman Sea Islands and Western Australia; north to Ryukyus; throughout the Indo-Malayan region to Vanuatu. They’re found in coastal reefs and outer reef lagoons. They eat zooplankton and small crustaceans.Siphamia is a genus of cardinalfishes native to the Indian and Pacific Ocean. Several of these species are commensal with various species of sea urchins.