Swallowtail hawfish

Cyprinocirrhites polyactis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth20–129 m
Water temperature18–30 °C
Best monthsApril, May, and August
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

The swallowtail hawkfish, also known as the lyretail hawkfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a hawkfish belonging to the family Cirrhitidae. It is found on to tropical reefs in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. This species grows to 15 cm (5.9 in) in total length. It is also found in the aquarium trade. This species is the only known member of its genus.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Swallowtail 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: 24 records
February: 22 records
March: 28 records
April: 65 records
May: 46 records
June: 31 records
July: 16 records
August: 44 records
September: 27 records
October: 41 records
November: 25 records
December: 40 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 20–129 m · Deepest record: 519 m

0–10 m: 2 records
10–20 m: 5 records
20–30 m: 15 records
30–40 m: 6 records
40–50 m: 8 records
50–60 m: 10 records
60–70 m: 7 records
70–80 m: 7 records
80–90 m: 6 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 9 records
110+ m: 11 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–30 °C

16–18 °C: 1 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 6 records
22–24 °C: 25 records
24–26 °C: 51 records
26–28 °C: 38 records
28–30 °C: 27 records

Photos

(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Gregor Bailar, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Peter Southwood, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Swallowtail hawfish, Lyre-tail Hawkfish, Lyretail Hawkfish, swallowtail hawfish, Swallowtail hawkfish

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: Halcón cola de golondrina
French: Cirrhite à Nombreux Rayons, Épervier à queue d'hirondelle
Japanese: Uigombe, ウイゴンベ
Simplified Chinese: 多棘鯉䱵

Other scientific names: Cirrhitichthys polyactis, Ctprinocirrhites polyactis, Cyprinocirrhites stigma, Cyprinocirrhites ui

Similar species

Coral hawkfish
Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus
Arc-eye hawkfish
Paracirrhites arcatus
Blackside hawkfish
Paracirrhites forsteri
Twinspot Hawkfish
Amblycirrhitus bimacula
Spotted hawkfish
Cirrhitichthys aprinus
Dwarf hawkfish
Cirrhitichthys falco

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).
288 open-data records from 1908 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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