Lyretail Hawkfish

Cyprinocirrhites polyactis

Also known as Swallowtail Hawkfish, Red Hawkfish, Soaring Hawkfish

SaltwaterFish

Lyretail Hawkfish (Cyprinocirrhites polyactis) — Rickard Zerpe · CC BY 2.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 5.9 in (15 cm)
Minimum tank: 40 gal (150 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Common
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Indo-West Pacific reefs, from East Africa to Tonga, north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia
Family: Cirrhitidae

Overview

The most easygoing hawkfish in the trade and one of the few considered genuinely reef safe, since it feeds on drifting plankton rather than ambushing shrimp and small fish the way its relatives do. It is still a hawkfish at heart, so very small or delicate tankmates can occasionally get harassed, and it will defend a favorite perch. Feed mysis, finely chopped krill, and other small meaty foods several times a day to match its planktivore feeding style, and keep the lid secured since it can jump like any hawkfish.

In the wild

Found across the Indo-West Pacific from East Africa to Tonga, north to southern Japan and south to New Caledonia and northern New Zealand, on steep, current-swept reef slopes and drop-offs from about 10 m to over 100 m deep. Unlike most hawkfish it spends its time hovering several metres above the bottom rather than sitting on it, so the aquarium should offer open water above the rockwork as well as ledges to retreat to when startled. A tank of at least 150 litres (40 US gal) gives it room to hold position in the water column.

Good to know

An unusual hawkfish that behaves more like an anthias than a typical ambush percher: it hovers, often in loose groups, over the reef picking copepods and other zooplankton out of the current, and its deep, compressed, yellow-to-orange mottled body with a forked, lyre-shaped tail reflects that open-water lifestyle. It still carries the family's diagnostic stiffened lower pectoral fin rays and lacks a swim bladder as an adult, but uses them mainly for brief perching rather than as its main way of getting around. Reaches about 15 cm.

Did you know

It is often mistaken for an anthias at the fish store thanks to its similar shape, color, and habit of swimming in open water, but the giveaway shows up at rest: given a quiet moment, it drops down and perches on a rock exactly like its hawkfish relatives, something no anthias ever does.