Blotcheye soldierfish
Myripristis berndti
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Blotcheye soldierfish
- Scientific
- Myripristis berndti
- Dhivehi
- ކޮތަރި ރީނދޫ ދަންބޮޑުKothari reendhoo dhanbodu
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 30 cm (total length); commonly 22 cm (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives common to 22 cm; max. 30 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 159 m (usually 3 to 15 m)
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2015
Description
A red soldierfish with silvery pink scale centres, a black bar on the gill cover, an orange-yellow outer spiny dorsal fin and white leading edges to the fins. Its lower jaw juts out when the mouth is closed. It shelters in caves and under ledges in loose groups by day and feeds on zooplankton at night.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi name kothari reendhoo dhanbodu (MRS 1997). MRS notes the yellow spiny dorsal fin separates it from the pinecone soldierfish.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Myripristis-berndti.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ކޮތަރި_ރީނދޫ_ދަންބޮޑު
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Holocentridae_-_Myripristis_berndti.jpg
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Kothari reendhoo dhanbodu' (Latin form). Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ކޮތަރި ރީނދޫ ދަންބޮޑު' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition); it matches the Latin form. FLAG: the source states no traditional name was recorded and this descriptive name was coined for the book; it is not an established fishermen's name.