Species profile—Cirrhitus pinnulatus (whitespotted hawkfish)
Classification
Animalia (animals) → Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) → Cirrhitidae (hawkfishes) → Cirrhitus pinnulatus (whitespotted hawkfish)
Sighting data
Species details
- Kingdom
- Animalia (animals)
- Class
- Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
- Family
- Cirrhitidae (hawkfishes)
- Scientific name
- Cirrhitus pinnulatus (Forster, 1801)
- Common name
- whitespotted hawkfish
- WildNet taxon ID
- 32111
- Conservation significant
- No
- Wetland status
- Wetland Dependant Species
- Endemicity
- Native
- Pest status
- Nil
- Description
- The whitespotted hawkfish has large alternating blotches of white and brown on the body. Numerous small red to brown spots cover the entire body (except the head), including the tail and dorsal fins. The face is covered in wavy brown lines or blotches that may appear more yellow-orange on the cheek. The pectoral fin behind the gills has thin red stripes.
- Distribution
- The whitespotted hawkfish is found in tropical marine waters of the Indo-west-central Pacific from the eastern coast of Africa, north to Japan, east to Hawaii and south to Australia. In Australia it is known from Lizard Island to Escape Reef on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. It is also found at Ningaloo and Scott Reefs, Western Australia.
- Distributional limits
- 0, 0
0, 0 - Species environment
- Marine
- Habitat
- Hawkfish usually inhabit reef crests of shallow, inshore areas and often in strong surge zones.
- Behaviour
- Hawkfish are generally observed perched on their thickened pectoral fins. They sit in this manner on the bottom, while observing their surroundings for food. Hawkfish have excellent eyesight, enabling them to see prey from a long distance.
- Diet
- Most hawkfish feed on small vertebrate prey such as shrimp, worms or fish.
- Notes
- Contributors: Mellisa Mayhew 16/10/2008; Wayne Martin 09/11/2008
- References
- Egerton, L. (ed.) (2005). Encyclopedia of Australian Wildlife, (Revised Edition). Readers Digest Pty Ltd, Sydney.
Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (eds). (2008). FishBase, version (09/2008). World Wide Web electronic publication, Accessed 09/11/2008.
Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & Allen, G.R. (2006). Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Volume 35.2, pp. 1345-1346. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood. - Profile author
- Mellisa Mayhew (09/11/2008)
Other resources
Data source
This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=32111.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
