🐠 Spotted Hawkfish (Cirrhitichthys aprinus)
Marine Reef-Safe Perching Fish • White-to-Brownish Body Covered in Reddish-Brown Spots & Blotches • Genuinely Rare in the Aquarium Trade • Beginner-Friendly Marine Fish
 
📋 We want to be genuinely upfront on naming: this species is also commonly called the Blotched, Redbarred, Boar, or Threadfin Hawkfish, and it's genuinely very similar in appearance to our Pixi Hawkfish (Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus) — the two are distinguished by a light-rimmed dark spot behind each eye on this species, along with the absence of spots on its tail.
 
📋 The Spotted Hawkfish has a genuinely sturdy, oval body in white to brownish tones, sprinkled with irregular reddish-brown spots and blotches across the sides, head, and back.
Native to a genuinely wide range across the Indo-West Pacific, from Sumatra to the Solomon Islands, north to the Philippines and southern Japan, and south to both coasts of Australia, this species inhabits rocky and coral areas of subtidal coastal reefs.
Like all hawkfish, this species genuinely lacks a swim bladder, instead choosing a fixed perch — often a branching coral, flat stone, or elevated structure — from which it watches over its surroundings before leaping toward prey or hopping to a new position. We want to be honest that it's genuinely quite feisty and territorial toward its own kind and other hawkfish, so it's best kept singly, or as a genuine confirmed pair in a larger tank. It's fully reef safe with corals, though we want to be upfront that it will genuinely eat small ornamental shrimp and other live-sand organisms.
 
⚪🟤 Highlights
🎨 White-Brown Body With Reddish Spots: A genuinely distinctive, characterful hawkfish
🔍 Genuine Naming Overlap: Very similar to the Pixi Hawkfish, distinguished by its eye spot and tail
💎 Genuinely Rare in the Trade: Not commonly available
🌿 Fully Reef Safe: Won't harm corals, though will eat small ornamental shrimp
⚠️ Genuinely Feisty: Best kept singly or as a confirmed pair