Species: Holocentrus adscensionis, Squirrelfish, Ascension Squirrelfish

Holocentrus adscensionis (Osbeck, 1765)

Squirrelfish, Ascension Squirrelfish

Body oblong, slender, compressed; head pointed; eyes large; bones on head serrated and spiny; mouth large, at front; lower gill rakers 15-18; preopercle with an angular corner bearing a large, long spine; a large spine at top corner of operculum; XI dorsal spines, 14-16 rays, no gap after last spine, front soft rays elongated; anal fin III-IV, 10; pelvics I, 7; tail base long and slender; tail fin deeply forked, with pointed tips, upper lobe distinctly longer than lower lobe; body scales very spiny;47-49 (45-51) pored lateral line scales.

Upper head and body pink, sometimes a white blotch on rear back; lower parts, and tail base white; spiny dorsal yellowish, without white blotches behind spine tips; soft dorsal, tail, anal, pelvic and pectoral fins pinkish white.

Reaches 45 cm.

Reef habitats.

Depth range: 1-274 m.

Both sides of the Atlantic and the central Atlantic; Chesapeake Bay to Brazil.