I was in a crappy LFS the other day and I saw a black cardinal for the first time. I never had a solid black fish before and a cardinal would work in my nano so I bought him.
Has anyone seen them around before or are the "new" on the market?
Rich does it have an eye spot on the back top fin? If it does it could be aApogon melas, though it's very dark and they're usually lighter in color. Maybe it's just stressed out, how large is it?
Hey Mike. It does have a black spot on the rear dorsal (not visible in this pic). It is about 3". It could be stressed, he's only been in the tank for a few days. He eats everything in sight so I guess that's a good thing.
Rich it could be stressed out, especially with the bright lights as Cardinals usually are nocturnal, or it also could just be a very dark one. Considering that it's eating, I think it's just a very dark one. They're usually very hardy and do very well in smaller tank. Either way it's a nice fish.
I seen one just like it at fishtown a few weeks ago. I ended up getting your fishes brother a flame cardinal i beleive it was called just like yours but all red with bright blue eyebrows. lol.