Spotted hawkfish

Cirrhitichthys aprinus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth12–82 m
Water temperature20–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, April, and May
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The spotted hawkfish, the blotched hawkfish, redbarred hawkfish, boar hawkfish or threadfin hawkfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a hawkfish belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. It is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific region. A common species, it is found in rocky and coral areas of subtidal coastal reefs.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Spotted hawkfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 182 records
February: 117 records
March: 114 records
April: 178 records
May: 163 records
June: 124 records
July: 70 records
August: 124 records
September: 122 records
October: 111 records
November: 137 records
December: 154 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 12–82 m · Deepest record: 139 m

0–10 m: 9 records
10–20 m: 10 records
20–30 m: 18 records
30–40 m: 16 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 8 records
60–70 m: 8 records
70–80 m: 7 records
80–90 m: 12 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

20–22 °C: 6 records
22–24 °C: 5 records
24–26 °C: 22 records
26–28 °C: 31 records
28–30 °C: 35 records

Photos

(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Piotr Lukasik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Spotted hawkfish, Blotched Hawkfish, Boar Hawkfish, Red Barred Hawkfish, respotted hawkfish, spotted hawkfish, Threadfin Hawkfish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Gefleckter Büschelbarsch, Gefleckter Korallenwächter
Spanish: Halcón Rojo barrado
French: Épervier à taches rouges
Japanese: Minamigombe, Minamigonbe, ミナミゴンベ
Korean: 무늬가시돔
Thai: ปลาปากเหยี่ยวลายขีด
Simplified Chinese: 斑金䱵, 格仔, 短嘴格

Other scientific names: Cirhitichthys apinus, Cirrhites aprinus, Cirrhitychthys aprinus, Cirrihitichthys aprinus

Similar species

Coral hawkfish
Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus
Dwarf hawkfish
Cirrhitichthys falco
Arc-eye hawkfish
Paracirrhites arcatus
Blackside hawkfish
Paracirrhites forsteri
Twinspot Hawkfish
Amblycirrhitus bimacula
Stocky hawkfish
Cirrhitus pinnulatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
645 open-data records from 1908 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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