Cirrhitus rivulatus
Giant Hawkfish
Collection Details
Event Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Cirrhitidae (Hawkfishes)
Cirrhitus
Cirrhitus rivulatus (Giant Hawkfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal. Body moderately deep and compressed; dorsal fin with 10 thick spines and 11 to 12 soft rays (X,11-12); interspinal membranes with terminal cirri; pectoral fins wide, with 14 rays, the lower 7 thickened and unbranched, with notched membranes; body olive green to red, with 4 dark oblique bars with cobalt blue borders; head with similar dark bars (Ref. 55763).
Distribution
Eastern Central Pacific: Gulf of California to northern Colombia and the Galapagos Islands.
Habitat Associations
Marine. reef-associated. depth range 5-23 m. Found in: coral reefs.
Biology
Solitary, bottom-living in shallow waters (Ref. 28023). Lies very still on rock ledges and is well camouflaged against the rocks. Feeds on crustaceans and small fishes (Ref. 37955). Considered a good food fish (Ref. 9289).
Max length: 60.0 cm TL; max weight: 4160 g.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-05-24.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Humann, P. and N. DeLoach (1993) Reef fish identification. Galápagos. New World Publications, Inc., Florida. 267 p.
Bussing, W.A. and R.J. Lavenberg (1995) Cirrhitidae. Chinos, halcones. p. 1007-1010. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
Grove, J.S. and R.J. Lavenberg (1997) The fishes of the Galápagos Islands. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 863 p.
IGFA (2001) Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA.
Jiménez Prado, P. and P. Béarez (2004) Peces Marinos del Ecuador continental. Tomo 2: Guía de Especies / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador. Volume 2: Species Guide. SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA.
Comments On Cirrhitus rivulatus