conchfish
Astrapogon stellatus (Cope, 1867)
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.
Cardinal fish inside a penshell from Jaragua National Park, Dominican Republic
Serge Aucoin · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Astrapogon stellatus is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Apogonidae, the cardinal fishes. It lives in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is commonly known as the conchfish because it typically conceals itself in the mantle cavity of a living queen conch (Aliger gigas) by day.
Wikipedia contributors, Astrapogon stellatus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:35:34.045917+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Astrapogon stellatus (Cope, 1867)
- Name authority
- (Cope, 1867)
- Common name
- conchfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Apogoniformes
- Family
- Apogonidae
- Genus
- Astrapogon
- 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
- genusAstrapogon Fowler, 1907
- speciesAstrapogon stellatus (Cope, 1867)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Astrapogon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| bronze cardinalfishAstrapogon alutus (Jordan & Gilbert, 1882) | ApogonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Apogonichthys stellatus Cope, 1867 Cope, 1867 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=279774 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.
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:J3LC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.