Animalia Life

Priacanthus hamrur
FAMILY
Priacanthidae
TAXONOMY
Priacanthus hamrur (Forsskеl, 1775), Jidda, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Lunar tail bigeye, moontail bullseye; French: Beauclaire miroir; Japanese: Hoseki-kintoki.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Body deep and compressed, with rough scales, large eyes, relatively large fins, and a caudal fin that is slightly emarginate. There are 10 spines and 14–15 soft rays in the dorsal fin, and 3 spines and 14–15 soft rays in the anal fin. Body color is a red or coppery red that fades to a mottled pattern of silver and red in darkness. Grows to 18 in (45 cm) in total length.
DISTRIBUTION
Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa east to the Marquesas and Mangareva in French Polynesia, and Easter Island. Also found from southern Japan in the Northern Hemisphere to Australia and Lord Howe Island in the Southern Hemisphere.
HABITAT
Frequents ledges, crevices, caves, and the lower water column of outer reef slopes, passes, and deep lagoons; also found around pinnacles in lagoons and offshore patch reefs.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds mainly at night upon smaller fishes, crustaceans, cephalopods, and larger zooplankton. Preyed upon by larger predatory fishes.
BEHAVIOR
Often solitary, hovering in or next to shelter or in the lower water column in daylight but more active at night. Changes color from red to silver or mottled-silver and red in darkness. The large eyes of this species are advantageous in low-light conditions, both for feeding and predator avoidance.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Little is known. May form spawning aggregations. The eggs and larvae are reportedly pelagic.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Taken in commercial and subsistence fisheries and incidentally in recreational fisheries. Sometimes collected for larger aquaria.

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