Falco Hawkfish

Care at a glance

Overview

Regarded as one of the calmest, least aggressive hawkfish available, though it still defends its perch and can squabble with similar-looking tankmates or other hawkfish. It is reef safe with caution: corals are never a target, but its natural diet is small crustaceans, so ornamental shrimp and tiny crabs are at real risk. Its mouth is small for a hawkfish, so offer finely chopped mysis, krill, and other small meaty foods once or twice a day rather than large chunks.

In the wild

Ranges across the Indo-Pacific from the Maldives to Samoa, north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia, living on coral-rich reef slopes to about 46 m and favoring stands of Pocillopora coral even where coral cover is sparse. Its small size and calm temperament make it one of the few hawkfish suited to a nano reef, though it still wants live rock with ledges and coral branches to perch on. A tank of at least 110 litres (30 US gal) works well, and a tight lid is a must since it can jump.

Good to know

One of the smallest hawkfish in the aquarium trade, topping out around 7 cm. Like the rest of the family it has no swim bladder and relies on stiffened lower pectoral fin rays to prop itself on rock and coral rather than swim freely. Its body is pale with a fine reddish-brown speckled pattern, which gives it the alternate name speckled hawkfish and helps it blend into coral rubble while it watches for prey.

Did you know

Its Pocillopora coral perches double as an early warning system in the wild: the coral's resident crabs and shrimp scatter or pinch at anything that brushes the branches, giving a falco hawkfish a heads-up whenever a predator approaches its hideout.

Related species

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  Pixy Hawkfish

  Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus

  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)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Longnose Hawkfish

  Oxycirrhites typus

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

• 

  Arc-Eye Hawkfish

  Paracirrhites arcatus

  7.9 in (20 cm)40 gal (150 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Freckled Hawkfish

  Paracirrhites forsteri

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

• 

  Lyretail Hawkfish

  Cyprinocirrhites polyactis

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