Mediterranean cardinalfish

A small, deep-bodied fish of a clean coppery red to orange, with two very large dark eyes crossed by a pair of short white or silvery dashes, one in front of the pupil and one behind. The body is smooth and slightly translucent under a torch, the tail is forked, and there are two separate dorsal fins, the front one short and spiny. Adults rarely exceed a hand's length.

Cardinalfish are creatures of the dark. By day they hang motionless, head slightly down, inside caves, under big overhangs, in wreck compartments and in the shadow of boulders, singly or in loose groups of a dozen or more, and they come out into open water at night to feed on plankton and small invertebrates. Around Malta and Gozo any cave dive from about 5 m downwards is likely to hold them, and they are common on the artificial reefs and scuttled wrecks.

The Maltese name sultan iċ-ċawl, and the alternative ċawla ħamra, tie the fish to the ċawl, the damselfish it shares the reef with. Note that the Italian-derived name re di triglie, king of the red mullets, is sometimes translated into English on Maltese dive material, so an English phrase like king of the mullets is not really a Maltese name at all.