Lachneratus phasmaticus Fraser & Struhsaker, 1991
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Lachneratus phasmaticus, also known as the phantom cardinalfish, is a species of fish in the family Apogonidae, the cardinalfishes. It is the only member of its genus. It is native to the tropical eastern Pacific and Indian Oceans. This fish can be found in crevices and underwater caves, and it occurs at depths of 3 to 104 m (10 to 340 ft). It grows to a standard length of 7.4 cm (2.9 in).
This species was discovered when "an unusual cardinalfish was taken in a trawl off of Hawaii" around 1969. It was later collected off of Fiji. It was described to science in 1991 and placed in a new genus.
Wikipedia contributors, Phantom cardinalfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:58:54.864456+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Lachneratus phasmaticus Fraser & Struhsaker, 1991
- Name authority
- Fraser & Struhsaker, 1991
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Apogoniformes
- Family
- Apogonidae
- Genus
- Lachneratus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderApogoniformes
- familyApogonidae Günther, 1859
- subfamilyApogoninae Günther, 1859
- genusLachneratus Fraser & Struhsaker, 1991
- speciesLachneratus phasmaticus Fraser & Struhsaker, 1991
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Fraser, T. H., & Struhsaker, P. J. (1991). A New Genus and Species of Cardinalfish (Apogonidae) from the Indo-West Pacific, with a Key to Apogonine Genera. Copeia, 1991. https://doi.org/10.2307/1446398 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3RPMD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.