No photo available
Coral hawkfish
Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Coral hawkfish
- Scientific
- Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus
- Dhivehi
- Gaa boa
- Group
- Reef fish
- Family
- Cirrhitidae (hawkfishes)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 15 cm (standard length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 1 to 40 m (usually 10 to 25 m)
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2015
Description
A small hawkfish with very variable colours, from pale with grey to black blotches to pink with bright red blotches, reaching about 15 cm. It perches on or under hard and soft corals in clear, coral-rich areas and ambushes small crustaceans and fish.
In the Maldives
FishBase (Maldives) gives the general name gaa boa.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Cirrhitichthys-oxycephalus.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=5830&GenusName=Cirrhitichthys&Species
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Pez_halcón_de_coral_(Cirrhitichthys_oxycephalus),_Zanzíbar,
Dhivehi name source: FishBase common names (country: Maldives) give 'Gaa boa' (Latin script). FLAG: single source.