How do cardinal fish fathers care for their eggs?

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Bluefin tuna swimming underwater in a group, with silvery bodies and streamlined shapes, near Japan. — perciform Bluefin tuna (*Thunnus thynnus orientalis*) in the waters near Japan.

Cardinal fish (family Apogonidae) are known for their practice of oral incubation, a form of parental care where the parent carries the eggs in its mouth to protect them until they hatch. Specifically, the common European cardinal fish (Apogon imberbis) incubates its eggs within the pharynx.12

While parental care behaviors can vary among species, oral incubation in cardinal fish is a specialized method that ensures the safety of the developing offspring. In many fish species that practice this behavior, the male, the female, or both may participate in incubating the eggs until they hatch, and in some cases, the young may continue to use the parent's mouth for protection even after hatching.2