Cirrhitichthys aprinus

Cirrhitichthys aprinus, commonly known as the Spotted hawkfish, is a small/medium-sized hawkfish. Their base colour is cream white, with many reddish-brown spots/patches on their body, which become smaller on the head and in the dorsal fin.The first few dorsal fin spines have tiny hairs on them called 'cirri'.

These fish usually pick one or a few spots on rocks or corals where they observe the aquarium. Although they can sometimes be seen in groups in nature, we recommend to only keep one hawkfish in a tank, unless a proven pair can be found, because they can be very aggressive towards other hawkfishes if not enough hiding spaces are available. Most other fishes are ignored, but do watch out with small docile species though. In nature their main diet consists of crustaceans. They're not shy at all and will eat about any meaty food (preferable crustaceans like mysis, gammarus and krill) you offer. They can even be hand-fed after a short while in the tank. Except for resting on a coral, which some corals can't handle, they're reef safe, but do watch out with shrimps and crabs that fit their mouth!