Arc-eye hawkfish
Paracirrhites arcatus
Longnose hawkfish
Oxycirrhites typus
About
Perched motionless inside a sea fan, the longnose hawkfish is easy to miss until you notice the grid of red lines across its white body. It grows to about 13 cm and is currently the only known species in its genus.
Also known as: oxycirrhites typus, long nose hawkfish, long-nose hawk, long-nose hawkfish
- Length
- 13 cm
- Depth
- 0–25 m
How to tell it apart
No other hawkfish has a snout this long and pointed; spotting a hawkfish with that elongated snout tucked into a sea fan on a current-swept slope confirms it is a longnose hawkfish and nothing else.
Appearance
This small fish has a white body overlaid with a grid of red horizontal and vertical lines. Its most obvious feature is a long, pointed snout, roughly half the length of its whole head. A small tuft of skin filaments, called cirri, sits at the tip of each dorsal fin spine. It reaches a maximum length of about 13 cm.
Habitat
It lives on steep outer reef slopes swept by strong currents, almost always perched among large gorgonians (branching sea fans) or black corals, from shallow water down to around 25 m where divers most often see it.
Is it dangerous?
harmless
Did you know?
It is the only known species in its genus, Oxycirrhites, unlike most fish on the reef which share their genus with several close relatives.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
