Flame Hawkfish

The flame hawkfish is one of the most recognisable silhouettes on the reef: a scarlet body marked with black around the eyes and beneath the dorsal fin. A member of the family Cirrhitidae, it is the only known species in its genus. Lacking a swim bladder as an adult, it does not hover in midwater — it perches on stout pelvic fins and watches. It rarely exceeds 9 cm. It ranges across the western Pacific, from the Ryukyu and Ogasawara Islands to the Pitcairn Islands and south to the Great Barrier Reef. It favours surge-swept reef fronts and submarine terraces, most often between 1 and 10 metres, tucked among the branches of hard corals such as Stylophora and Pocillopora — perch, shelter and hunting post at once — from which it darts at the small crustaceans it feeds on. In the aquarium, allow 120 litres for a single fish, with live rock and, ideally, branching coral to perch in. Keep only one per tank: it bullies bottom-dwelling gobies and blennies, and will eat ornamental shrimp and hermit crabs, so it is reef-safe only with caution. Feed meaty marine fare daily in well-oxygenated water, and cover the tank — it jumps. Colours often fade in captivity.