Arc-eye hawkfish
Paracirrhites arcatus
Blackside hawkfish
Paracirrhites forsteri
About
The blackside hawkfish, also called Forster's hawkfish, is a reef fish found across the tropical Indo-Pacific. It is a minor part of local fisheries and sometimes appears in the aquarium trade.
Also known as: forster's hawkfish, blackside hawkfish, freckled hawkfish, blackside hawkfish, blacksided hawkfish, freckled hawkfish, forster's hawk, blackside hawkfish, blackside hawkfish
- Length
- 18 cm · max 22 cm
- Depth
- 5–35 m
- Temperature
- 24–27 °C
How to tell it apart
Look for a broad dark band running along the rear half of an otherwise yellow body, with red speckles on the head. This fish typically sits still, propped up on a coral branch, which makes the band easy to spot.
Appearance
This fish has a yellowish body with a broad black or dark brown band along the rear half, and small red speckles on the whitish or grey head and front of the body. Colour varies with age and location: juveniles can be reddish on top in some areas, or golden-green on top and white below in others. It grows to a maximum length of 22 cm, though most individuals are closer to 18 cm.
Habitat
This species lives on the seaward side of reefs and in soft-bottomed lagoons, at depths of 1 to 35 m, usually between 5 and 35 m. It is often seen perched on the outermost branches of specific corals.
Did you know?
A colour form of this fish, marked with maroon and yellow, was originally mistaken for an entirely different species and formally described as its own species, P. typee, before being recognised as just a colour variant of the blackside hawkfish.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
