Arc-eye hawkfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The arc-eye hawkfish is a perching carnivore for a rocky saltwater tank. It is easy to keep.

Caring for the arc-eye hawkfish

Give the arc-eye hawkfish at least 40 gal (150 L), which suits a single fish long term. Add plenty of live rock with coral rubble or branching coral to claim as a lookout. Fit a tight lid, since hawkfish are proven jumpers.

Keep the water at 72 to 79°F (22 to 26°C) and a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. Feed a varied carnivore diet of mysis, krill and chopped seafood. It feeds eagerly and rarely needs coaxing.

The arc-eye hawkfish is one of the more pugnacious hawkfish in the trade. It stakes out a perch and defends it hard. It is well known for harassing or killing smaller or more timid fish added after it, so always add it to the tank last. Keep only one per tank.

It is reef safe with caution, since it leaves corals alone. It will eat small ornamental shrimp, tiny crabs and any fish small enough to fit in its mouth.

Good to know

The arc-eye hawkfish has no swim bladder, like other hawkfish. Instead of hovering in open water, it rests directly on rock or coral and moves in short hops between perches. Thickened, stiffened rays on the lower part of each pectoral fin act almost like little legs, propping it up while it watches for food. It is named for the broken orange-red ring that circles each eye. The rest of the body is a mottled reddish-brown. It is one of the larger hawkfish commonly kept.

In the wild

The arc-eye hawkfish is found across the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa to Hawaii, the Line Islands and Mangareva, and north to southern Japan. It usually perches in the branches of small stony corals like Pocillopora. It lives on shallow reef flats and in lagoons, mostly less than 20 m deep. It sits motionless on a favored coral head for hours, watching the water around it. Then it darts out to grab passing prey and returns to the same perch.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Freckled hawkfish

  Paracirrhites forsteri

  8.7 in (22 cm) · 70 gal (265 L)

  8.7 in (22 cm)70 gal (265 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Longnose hawkfish

  Oxycirrhites typus

  5.1 in (13 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  5.1 in (13 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Pixy hawkfish

  Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus

  3.9 in (10 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  3.9 in (10 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Flame hawkfish

  Neocirrhites armatus

  3.5 in (9 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  3.5 in (9 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Falco hawkfish

  Cirrhitichthys falco

  2.8 in (7 cm) · 29 gal (110 L)

  2.8 in (7 cm)29 gal (110 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Lyretail hawkfish

  Cyprinocirrhites polyactis

  5.9 in (15 cm) · 40 gal (150 L)

  5.9 in (15 cm)40 gal (150 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)