''Cirrhitichthys'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

hawkfish Cirrhitidae, the hawkfishes, are a family of marine perciform ray-finned fishes found in tropical seas and which are associated with coral reefs. Taxonomy The Cirrhitidae were first recognised as a family by the Scots-born Australian naturalis ...

es, from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Cirrhitidae. They are found on

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic processes—deposition (geology), deposition of ...

s in the Indian and western

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

oceans. Some species can be found in the aquarium trade.

Taxonomy

''Cirrhitichthys'' was first formally described in 1857 by the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October ...

Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on the fishes of East Asia ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

designated by Bleeker was ''Cirrhites graphidopterus'' which had been described by him in 1853, although this taxon has subsequently been considered a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

of ''Cirrhites aprinus'' which

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in na ...

had described in 1829. The name of this genus is a compound of ''

Cirrhitus ''Cirrhitus'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, hawkfishes from the family Cirrhitidae. The species in this genus are found on tropical reefs worldwide. Taxonomy ''Cirrhites'' was first formally described as a genus in 1803 by the French ...

'', referring to the similarity between the two genera, although there are differences in dentition, and ''ichthys'' meaning “fish”.

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are: * ''

Cirrhitichthys aprinus ''Cirrhitichthys'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, hawkfishes, from the family Cirrhitidae. They are found on tropical reefs in the Indian and western Pacific oceans. Some species can be found in the aquarium trade. Taxonomy ''Cirrhitich ...

'' ( G. Cuvier, 1829) (spotted hawkfish) * ''

Cirrhitichthys aureus ''Cirrhitichthys aureus'', the yellow hawkfish, the golden hawkfish or golden curlyfin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a hawkfish belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. It is native to tropical reefs of the Indian Ocean and the western Pac ...

'' ( Temminck & Schlegel, 1842) (yellow hawkfish) * ''

Cirrhitichthys bleekeri ''Cirrhitichthys'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, hawkfishes, from the family Cirrhitidae. They are found on tropical reefs in the Indian and western Pacific oceans. Some species can be found in the aquarium trade. Taxonomy ''Cirrhitich ...

'' F. Day, 1874 * ''

Cirrhitichthys calliurus ''Cirrhitichthys'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, hawkfishes, from the family Cirrhitidae. They are found on tropical reefs in the Indian and western Pacific oceans. Some species can be found in the aquarium trade. Taxonomy ''Cirrhitich ...

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri' ...

, 1905 (spottedtail hawkfish) * ''

Cirrhitichthys falco Falco may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Falco'' (book series), historical novels by Lindsey Davies ** Marcus Didius Falco, central character of the book series * "Falco" (song), by Hitomi Shimatani * ''Falco'' (TV series) * Falco (Groov ...

'' J. E. Randall, 1963 (dwarf hawkfish) * ''

Cirrhitichthys guichenoti ''Cirrhitichthys'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, hawkfishes, from the family Cirrhitidae. They are found on tropical reefs in the Indian and western Pacific oceans. Some species can be found in the aquarium trade. Taxonomy ''Cirrhitich ...

'' (

Sauvage Sauvage, French for "savage" may refer to: ; as a surname: * Catherine Sauvage (1929–1998), a French singer and actress * Cyrille Sauvage (born 1973), a French racing driver * Frédéric Sauvage (1786–1857), a French boat builder who carried ...

, 1880) * ''

Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus The coral hawkfish (''Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus''), the pixy hawkfish or sharp-headed hawkfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a hawkfish belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. It is native to tropical reefs of the Indian Ocean and the P ...

'' ( Bleeker, 1855) (coral hawkfish) * ''

Cirrhitichthys randalli ''Cirrhitichthys'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, hawkfishes, from the family Cirrhitidae. They are found on tropical reefs in the Indian and western Pacific oceans. Some species can be found in the aquarium trade. Taxonomy ''Cirrhitich ...

'' Kotthaus, 1976

Characteristics

''Cirrhitichthys'' hawkfishes have an oval, moderately compressed body with a sharp, more or less straight-profiled snout. The anterior nostril has a tuft of

cirri Giovanni Battista Cirri (1 October 1724 – 11 June 1808) was an Italian cellist and composer in the 18th century. Biography Cirri was born in Forlì in the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy. He had his first musical training with his brother ...

on its posterior margin. The mouth is moderately large with a row of small canine-like teeth on the jaws and a band of simple teeth within the outer band. There are patches of teeth on the middle and sides of the roof of the mouth. The margin of the

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

has quite large serrations and the gill cover has 2 flattened spines. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

is continuous, with 10 spines and 11-12 soft rays, there is a slight incision between the spines and the soft rays. The membranes between the dorsal fin spines deeply notched and each spine has a sizeable tuft of cirri at its tip. The

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...

has 3 spines and 5-7 soft rays. The

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as s ...

is truncate. The lower 5-7

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

rays are robust with deep incisions in the membranes between them and they are notably longer than the other rays. The upper 1-2 and lower 6-7 pectoral fin rays are simple. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two e ...

has a single spine and 5 soft rays and has its origin to the rear of the base of the pectoral fin. Their

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

varies from in the dwarf hawkfish (''C.s falco'') and in the

yellow hawkfish ''Cirrhitichthys aureus'', the yellow hawkfish, the golden hawkfish or golden curlyfin, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a hawkfish belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. It is native to tropical reefs of the Indian Ocean and the wester ...

(''C. aureus'').

Distribution and habitat

''Cirrhitichthys'' hawkfishes are mainly found in the

Indo-West 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 ...

with one species, the

coral hawkfish The coral hawkfish (''Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus''), the pixy hawkfish or sharp-headed hawkfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a hawkfish belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. It is native to tropical reefs of the Indian Ocean and ...

(''C. oxycephalus'') extending into the eastern Pacific. These fishes are associated with coral and rocky habitats.

Biology

''Cirrhitichthys'' hawkfishes are predatory, using the "sit and wait" technique to ambush benthic prey which can be invertebrates or fish, perching on their thickened lower pectoral fin rays among sponges and corals. They are protogynous hermaphrodites, all start out as female and live in harems, if the male is lost the largest and more dominant female will change sex. They are pelagic spawners rising upwards into the water column in pairts to spawn.

Utilisation

''Cirrhitichthys'' hawkfishes are collected for the aquarium trade.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2065776 Cirrhitidae