- Oxycirrhites typus
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Oxycirrhites typus 
Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Cirrhitidae Genus: Oxycirrhites Species: O. typus Binomial name Oxycirrhites typus
Bleeker, 1857
Oxycirrhites typus is a Hawkfish from the Indo-Pacific. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 13cm in length.Hawkfishes, family Cirrhitidae, comprise some twenty seven species in nine genera. Their overall distribution range is principally the Indo-Pacific with two species in the tropical West and East Atlantic. All Hawkfishes are marine. Most species are found in shallow water with some to a few hundred feet. The Longnose Hawk itself is found widely throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific; the Red Sea, eastern Africa, to Southern Japan, Noumea over to the Eastern Pacific; the lower third of the Sea of Cortez, northern Columbia down to the Galapagos. Never common in its range, at times one has to dive deep outer reef slopes and search about large gorgonians and black coral stands to find it.
Another important trait for ornamental marine collectors is that cirrhitid family members lack swim bladders; allowing them to be rapidly decompressed after capture. A real bonus instead of waiting out in bouncy seas for decompression of your catch, particularly ones from deeper water that take considerable time to adapt.
References
- Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2008). "Oxycirrhites typus" in FishBase. December 2008 version.
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