Long Nose Hawkfish

August 29th, 2009

Long Nose Hawkfish

The Long Nose Hawkfish, or Oxycirrhites typus, is a species of Hawkfish, and can be differentiated by its long nose.

Long Nose Hawkfish HabitatMaldives Underwater Photos Longnose Hawkfish Long Nose Hawkfish

The Long Nose Hawkfish is a tropical fish found in saltwater, most commonly associated with the coral reefs of the western and eastern Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, like the beautiful Maldives! You can expect to see a long nose hawkfish when scuba diving in the Maldives.

Long Nose Hawkfish particularly enjoy hanging around tree-like soft corals, particularly sea fans and black corals.

Long Nose Hawkfish Body

The long nose hawkfish shares many morphological features with the family Scorpaenidae, which includes Rockfishes, Scorpionfishes, and Lionfishes (though the long nose hawkfish does not have the Lionfishes’ prominent head spines). The Long Nose Hawkfish, which has 26 to 28 vertebrae and truncated tail fins, has a white body with red stripes that run both horizontally and vertically. Their dorsal fin bears ten spines, is continuous hard and soft and often possesses cirri. Ray counts range between eleven to seventeen for the soft dorsal fin and five to seven soft rays for the anal fins. The long nose hawkfish‘s pectoral fins are unique given their elongated, unbranched lower rays. The long nose hawkfish lacks swim bladders.

Long Nose Hawkfish Reproduction

Long Nose Hawkfish lay demersal (bottom) eggs.

Long Nose Hawkfish are known to engage in courtship dances. The male and female long nose hawkfish possess some sexual differences. Male long nose hawkfish are generally smaller and more colorful, with black margins on the pelvic and caudal fins. All cirrhitids studied thus far are protogynous synchronous hermaphrodites, meaning that they begin life as females and later turn into males. The long nose hawkfish tends to have monogamous relationships, as opposed to haremic conditions.

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