About Cyprinocirrhites polyactis (Bleeker, 1874)
Swallowtail hawkfish, with the scientific name Cyprinocirrhites polyactis (Bleeker, 1874), has two unique features that set it apart from all other members of the hawkfish family Cirrhitidae. These are a lunate caudal fin with elongated upper and lower lobes, and a high number of soft rays in the dorsal fin. Its dorsal fin has 10 spines, each tip covered in many cirri, and 16 to 17 soft rays, with the first soft ray being elongated. The anal fin has 3 spines and 6 to 7 soft rays. The caudal fin is lunate, and the uppermost ray of the upper lobe and the lowest ray of the lower lobe are extended into filaments. The lower pectoral fin rays are longer than the other pectoral fin rays. This species reaches a maximum total length of 15 cm, which is 5.9 inches. Its body is generally orange to brownish-orange, and it often has orange-red to brownish blotches across its body. This fish is native to the Indo-Pacific region. Its range stretches from southern and eastern Africa, from South Africa to Kenya, east through the Indian Ocean to Palau, Melanesia, and Fiji. It can be found as far north as Japan and as far south as Australia. In Australia, it occurs off the coast of Western Australia, and along Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef, extending south to southern New South Wales. It lives at depths ranging from 10 m to 132 m, or 33 ft to 433 ft. It typically inhabits steep slopes and small coral heads that are exposed to currents.
