Arc Eye Hawkfish
Paracirrhites arcatus
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Cirrhitidae
- Genus
- Paracirrhites
- Species
- Paracirrhites arcatus
The arc eye hawkfish (Paracirrhites arcatus) is a small hawkfish named for the distinctive horseshoe-shaped ring of colour behind its eye. Some individuals also have a pale stripe along the rear of the body.
Reaching around 14 cm, it sits motionless among the branches of corals such as Pocillopora and Stylophora, waiting to ambush shrimps, crabs and small fish. Males guard a small harem of females within their patch of coral.
The arc eye hawkfish is found throughout the Indo-Pacific, including the Philippines, where it is a familiar resident of branching corals on shallow reefs.