Genus: Amblycirrhitus, Hawkfish, Hawkfishes

AMBLYCIRRHITUS

HAWKFISHES

Body oval, moderately compressed; snout short, pointed; a fringe of cirri on rear edge of front nostril; mouth moderately large; a row of small canines on jaws, with a band of simple teeth inside those; teeth on center and sides of roof of mouth; operculum with 2 flat spines; preopercle finely serrated; dorsal fin X, 11, continuous, slightly notched between spines and rays, membranes between spines deeply indented, each spine with a tuft of threads at the tip; anal fin III, 6; tail fin bluntly straight edged; lower 5-7 rays of the pectoral stout, with membranes deeply notched, distinctly longer than other rays, used for perching on the bottom; pelvic I, 5, its origin behind pectoral base; scales smooth, 41-44 on lateral line.

An Atlantic and Indo-W Pacific genus with 5 species; 1 W Atlantic species in our area.