Blacktip soldierfish
Myripristis botche
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Blacktip soldierfish
- Scientific
- Myripristis botche
- Dhivehi
- ކަޅުކޮތަރި ދަންބޮޑުKalhu kothari dhanbodu
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 30 cm (standard length) (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives common to 24 cm; max. 30 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 25 to 71 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2015
Description
A pale pink soldierfish with a dark red bar on the gill cover, a dark-looking face and red rear fins with white leading edges and black tips. It lives at moderate to deep levels, usually below 25 m, sheltering in reefs by day and moving over open bottoms at night.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi name kalhu kothari dhanbodu (MRS 1997, recorded as Myripristis melanosticta). MRS calls it the second largest soldierfish after the shadowfin soldierfish.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Myripristis-botche.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ކަޅުކޮތަރި_ދަންބޮޑު
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Holocentridae_-_Myripristis_botche.JPG
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Kalhu kothari dhanbodu' (Latin form). Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ކަޅުކޮތަރި 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.