Bigscale Bullseye
Pempheris multiradiata
Short Bigeye
Pristigenys alta
About
The short bigeye is a small, disc-shaped reef fish that is hard to miss thanks to its bright red colour and unusually large eyes.
How to tell it apart
Its bright red colour and flattened shape can suggest a squirrelfish, but the short bigeye's eyes are noticeably larger in proportion to its head than any similar reef fish.
Appearance
This fish has a flattened, disc-like body with a blunt face and rough scales. Its most striking feature is its very large eyes, and it also has large fins on its underside. It is bright red all over.
Habitat
It lives mainly around reefs and rocky bottoms, usually alone, along the east coast of North America from North Carolina south through the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the West Indies.
Did you know?
Some anglers call it the "toro snapper", but despite the name it is not a snapper and only distantly related to that family.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
