''Sargocentron spiniferum'', common name sabre squirrelfish, giant squirrelfish and spiny squirrelfish, is a large

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of squirrelfish belonging to the family

Holocentridae Holocentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, the only family of the order Holocentriformes. The members of the subfamily Holocentrinae are typically known as squirrelfish, while the members of Myripristinae typically are known as soldierfish.L ...

Description

''Sargocentron spiniferum'' is the largest squirrelfish in its range and can reach up to in length and in weight (the Atlantic '' Holocentrus adscensionis'' can surpass the length, but it is slimmer). A more common length for ''S. spiniferum'' is . The body is

oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one o ...

and laterally compressed. The head has a pointed snout and large eyes, being largely

nocturnal Nocturnality is an ethology, animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have ...

. The basic colour is bright red. It has silver scale margins, a spinous dorsal fin and a large deep red patch just behind the eyes. The lower jaw protrudes beyond the upper jaw. It bears a very long preopercle spine (near the

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they ar ...

-opening). The anal and ventral fins are yellowish. The caudal fin is clearly bifid.

Distribution

This species is widespread throughout the tropical

, from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

up to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

, Japan and southern Australia.

Habitat

This squirrelfish can be found in tropical waters on coral reefs, from shallow water to a depth of .

References

* Allen, Gerry. 1999. ''Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and south-east Asia.'' * Debelius, Helmut. 1993. ''Indian Ocean Tropical Fish Guide.''

External links

Australian Museum

Doris
* spiniferum Fish of Palau Fish described in 1775 Taxa named by Peter Forsskål {{Beryciformes-stub