Unexpected - stoplight cardinal ate high fin red banded goby!

BirdFish5000 · Apr 23, 2022

Well, this was a heck of a surprise, looked at my Biocube today, and I see my red stoplight cardinal (Apogonichthys hyalinus) swimming around with the backhalf of my hi-fin red banded goby sticking out of its mouth.

Would you say its more likely that the cardinal attacked and ate the goby, or the goby was already dead and the cardinal took the opportunity for a meal?

Losirk · Apr 23, 2022

BirdFish5000 said:
Well, this was a heck of a surprise, looked at my Biocube today, and I see my red stoplight cardinal (Apogonichthys hyalinus) swimming around with the backhalf of my hi-fin red banded goby sticking out of its mouth.

Would you say its more likely that the cardinal attacked and ate the goby, or the goby was already dead and the cardinal took the opportunity for a meal?

The Cardinal almost certainly was munching on his already dead body. Cardinal fish are prey and are almost never aggressors (except against their own species)

BirdFish5000 · Apr 23, 2022

Okay, yeah, that makes sense. She's (he?) always been super shy, so that reconciles.

i cant think · Apr 24, 2022

BirdFish5000 said:
Well, this was a heck of a surprise, looked at my Biocube today, and I see my red stoplight cardinal (Apogonichthys hyalinus) swimming around with the backhalf of my hi-fin red banded goby sticking out of its mouth.

Would you say its more likely that the cardinal attacked and ate the goby, or the goby was already dead and the cardinal took the opportunity for a meal?

It wouldn’t surprise me if a cardinal took on a shrimp goby as they’re usually nocturnal hunters. As for what I think, I’d say the goby was already weak or dead before the cardinal took his chance.