Crown Squirrelfish
Sargocentron diadema
Spotfin Squirrelfish
Neoniphon sammara
About
A reef fish of many names - blood-spot, spotfin, slender, or javelin squirrelfish - this species spends its days sheltering in coral before heading out to hunt after dark.
Also known as: bloodspot squirrelfish, slender squirrelfish, armed squirrel-fish, sammara squirrelfish, javelin squirrel-fish, blood-spot squirrel-fish
How to tell it apart
Squirrelfish in this genus look similar to one another, so depth and shelter are the best clues: this is the one most likely to be sitting shallow, tucked into branching Acropora coral during the day.
Appearance
Like its close relative N. opercularis, it carries a single venomous spine on the preopercle, the bony plate that forms the rear edge of its cheek.
Habitat
It lives alone or in small groups over seagrass beds and hard bottoms on reef flats and in lagoons. Of the squirrelfish in its genus, it is the one most often found in shallow water, and it commonly shelters by day among the branches of Acropora, a common branching coral.
Did you know?
This squirrelfish is rarely eaten itself, but in parts of its range it is caught and used as live bait for tuna fishing.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
