Species: Hypoplectrus guttavarius, Shy hamlet

before eye : blue ringed black blotch

Hypoplectrus guttavarius (Poey, 1852)
Shy hamlet
Head and body deep, strongly compressed; forehead straight; snout relatively short; top jaw protrusible; rear of top jaw exposed when mouth closed, without accessory bone above it; teeth fixed; preoperculum angular, serrated, several small forward pointing spines on lower edge near the corner; gill rakers 17-23; dorsal fin X, 14-17, no notch after spines, membranes between spines not indented; pelvics long, reach to or beyond anus; tail fin slightly forked; lateral line scales 48-53; soft dorsal and anal fins mostly scaleless.
Body dark-brown, sometimes with a blue cast on the upper back; head and fins yellow; a large blue lined black blotch on side of snout; blue spots around eyes and on cheek.
Reaches 15 cm.
Lives on reefs.
Depth range: 3-30 m.
The Bahamas to the Caribbean.

High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
-
- Marine
- Marine Only
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom
- Habitat
-
- Rocks
- Corals
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Reef only
- FishBase Habitat
-
- Reef Associated
- Feeding Group
-
- Carnivore
- No Data
- Diet
-
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Bony fishes
- Egg Type
-
- Pelagic larva
- Data
- Pelagic
- Global Endemism
-
- West Atlantic Endemic
- Greater Caribbean endemic
- Regional Endemism
-
- Continent + Island (s)
- Continent
- Island (s)
- GC endemic
- Residency
-
- Resident
- Climate Zone
-
- Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
- Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
- Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
- IUCN Red List
-
- Not evaluated / Listed
- CITES
-
- Not listed
- Length Max
-
- 15
- Depth Range Min
-
- 3
- Depth Range Max
-
- 30