Moontail bullseye
Priacanthus hamrur
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Moontail bullseye
- Scientific
- Priacanthus hamrur
- Dhivehi
- Hungumas
- Group
- Reef fish
- Family
- Priacanthidae (bigeyes)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 45 cm (total length); commonly 40 cm (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives max. 35 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 0 to 250 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2015
Description
A deep red bigeye with huge eyes, an upturned mouth and a crescent-shaped tail, with a row of small dark spots along the lateral line. It can switch in an instant to pinkish silver with red bars. It hovers near coral heads and under ledges by day and feeds at night on larger zooplankton, small fish and crustaceans.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi name hungumas (MRS 1997); FishBase (Maldives) gives huhu mas. MRS calls it a common inhabitant of Maldivian reefs and easily approached.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Priacanthus-hamrur.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=5791&GenusName=Priacanthus&SpeciesNam
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Catalufa_espejuelo_(Priacanthus_hamrur),_Zanzíbar,_Tanzania
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Hungumas' (Latin form). FishBase (country: Maldives) gives a different name: 'Huhu mas'. FLAG: sources disagree; needs a Dhivehi speaker.