No photo available
Axilspot hogfish
Bodianus axillaris
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Axilspot hogfish
- Scientific
- Bodianus axillaris
- Dhivehi
- Hikaa
- Group
- Reef fish
- Family
- Labridae (wrasses)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 20 cm (standard length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 2 to 100 m (usually 2 to 40 m)
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2008
Description
A hogfish whose adults have a red-brown front half and a white rear half with black spots on the pectoral fin base and the soft dorsal and anal fins; juveniles and females are black with large white spots. Juveniles shelter in caves and act as cleaners. It reaches about 20 cm.
In the Maldives
FishBase (Maldives) gives only the general name hikaa.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Bodianus-axillaris.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=5498&GenusName=Bodianus&SpeciesName=a
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Pez_puerco_de_axilas_moteadas_(Bodianus_axillaris),_mar_Roj
Dhivehi name source: FishBase common names (country: Maldives) give 'Hikaa' (Latin script). FLAG: single source. FLAG: generic name for the group, not species-specific.