''Hoplolatilus purpureus'', the purple sand tilefish, is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of marine ray-finned fish, a
tilefish
file:Malacanthus latovittatus.jpg, 250px, Blue blanquillo, ''Malacanthus latovittatus''
Tilefishes are mostly small perciform marine fish comprising the family (biology), family Malacanthidae. They are usually found in sandy areas, especially n ...
belonging to the family Malacanthidae. It is native to the western central
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
where its range includes Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
It is native to the seaward side of
reefs
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 (non-living) processes such as deposition of sand or wave eros ...
and occurs at depths of from . This species can reach a length of
total length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology.
Overall length
Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...
. It can also be found in the
aquarium
An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...
trade.
References
purpureus
Taxa named by George H. Burgess
Fish described in 1978
{{Acanthuriformes-stub