The hawkfish anthias (''Serranocirrhitus latus''), also known as the swallowtail basslet, coral perch, hawk anthias, fathead anthias, or sunburst anthias, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, an

anthias Anthias are members of the family Serranidae and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow reef fishes seen swarming in most coral reef photography and film. The name Anthi ...

from the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Anthiinae Anthias are members of the family Serranidae and make up the subfamily Anthiinae. Anthias make up a sizeable portion of the population of pink, orange, and yellow reef fishes seen swarming in most coral reef photography and film. The name Anthi ...

part of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. It is the only member of the genus ''Serranocirrhitus''. It is found in the Western Pacific Ocean. It is sometimes found in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''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. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade.

Description

The hawkfish anthias has a deep body, notably deeper than other members of the subfamily Anthiinase, and elongated pectoral fins that reach to the rear part of 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 se ...

. Overall it is pinkish in colour with each scale having a bright yellow to orange marking. There are two bright yellow stripes radiating from the back of the eye and a yellow spot on the operculum. The dorsal fin has 10 spines and 18-20 soft rays while the

has 3 spines and 7 soft rays. The maximum total length attained is .

Distribution

The hawkfish anthias is distributed from southern Japan, where it occurs in the Ryukyu and

Izu Islands The are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ō ...

, and Taiwan south to the Great Barrier Reef and Palau. It occurs as far west as the Moluccas and east to Tonga.

Habitat and biology

The hawkfish anthias is found in inshore waters in the vicinity of coral reefs, small groups may occur near caves, overhangs and drop-offs, at depths of . It can be found singly or in small groups and tends to be a secretive species which frequently swims upside down under overhangs or cave ceilings. They are faithful to a specific shelter. Their diet consists mainly of zooplankton. Hawkfish anthias are protogynous hermaphrodites and when a male in a loose aggregation dies or dis appears the dominant female changes sex to become the male.

Taxonomy

The hawkfish anthias was first formally described by Masao Watanbe in 1949 with the type locality given as Itoman, Okinawa in the Ryukyus. Watanabe placed the new species in the monospecific genus ''Serranocirrhitus'' within the

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 ...

family, Cirrhitidae. In 1962 the Australian

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 Octobe ...

Gilbert Percy Whitley described a new species which he also placed in a monospecific genus and named ''Dactylanthias mcmichaeli'', although he placed this species in the grouper family Serranidae, as one of the anthias. Later

John E. Randall John Ernest "Jack" Randall (May 22, 1924 – April 26, 2020) was an American ichthyologist and a leading authority on coral reef fishes. Randall described over 800 species and authored 11 books and over 900 scientific papers and popular articles. ...

and

Phillip C. Heemstra Phillip Clarence Heemstra (9 December 1941 – 29 August 2019) was an American-South African ichthyologist. He was born in Melrose Park, Illinois, United States as the son of Clarence William Heemstra and his wife, Lydia (born Epcke). He atten ...

were able to show that ''S. latus'' and ''D. mcmichaeli'' were

synonymous 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 all ...

and that the species should be placed in the subfamily Anthiinea of the Serranidae. It is the only species in its genus.

Utilisation

The hawkfish anthias is rare in the aquarium trade although it is highly sought after and some populations have declined due to harvesting for this trade.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1141568 Anthiinae Fish of the Pacific Ocean Fish described in 1949