# Cirrhitops > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cirrhitops > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cirrhitops.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrhitops > Source revision: 1354667837 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ***Cirrhitops*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of marine [ray-finned fish](/source/Ray-finned_fish), [hawkfishes](/source/Hawkfish) from the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Cirrhitidae](/source/Cirrhitidae). They are found on [tropical](/source/Tropical) [reefs](/source/Reef) of the [Indian Ocean](/source/Indian_Ocean) and the [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean). ## Taxonomy *Cirrhitops* was described as a genus in 1951 by the South African [ichthyologist](/source/Ichthyologist) [J.L.B. Smith](/source/J.L.B._Smith) with *Cirrhites fasciatus* as the [type species](/source/Type_species). When he described the genus Smith stated that it was monotypic[1] as he considered that *Cirrhites hubbardi*, which had been [described](/source/Species_description) in 1941 by the [American](/source/United_States) ichthyologist [Leonard P. Schultz](/source/Leonard_Peter_Schultz), was a [synonym](/source/Synonym_(taxonomy)) of *C. fasciatus*.[2] The name of the genus has the name of the [type genus](/source/Type_genus) of the family, *[Cirrhitus](/source/Cirrhitus)*, suffixed with *ops* meaning that they species in the genus are similar in appearance to the species in *Cirrhitus* and *[Cirrhitichthys](/source/Cirrhitichthys)*.[3] In 1963 John Ernest Randall reviewed the hawkfish family Cirrhitidae and included two species within the genus, *C. fasciatus* and *C. hubbardi*.[2] In that review he did note that *C. fasciatus* had a widely disjunct distribution with populations known from [Hawaii](/source/Hawaii) and from the Mascarenes. In 2008, in a paper co-authored by Randall and Jennifer K. Schultz, the new species *C. mascarenensis* was described from the south western Indian Ocean based on genetic and [morphological](/source/Morphology_(biology)) analyses. This then resolved the status of the redbarred hawkfish as a species [endemic](/source/Endemism_in_the_Hawaiian_Islands) to the Hawaiian archipelago.[4] ## Species The currently recognized species in this genus are:[5] - *[Cirrhitops fasciatus](/source/Cirrhitops_fasciatus)* ([E. T. Bennett](/source/Edward_Turner_Bennett), 1828) (redbarred hawkfish) - *[Cirrhitops hubbardi](/source/Cirrhitops_hubbardi)* ([L. P. Schultz](/source/Leonard_Peter_Schultz), 1943) - *[Cirrhitops mascarenensis](/source/Cirrhitops_mascarenensis)* [J. E. Randall](/source/John_Ernest_Randall) & [J. K. Schultz](/source/Jennifer_K._Schultz), 2008 ## Characteristics *Cirrhitops* hawkfishes are distinguished within the Cirrhitidae by a number of characters, among these are that the higher 2 and lower 6 [pectoral fin](/source/Pectoral_fin) rays without branching. They have 14, occasionally 15, spines in the [dorsal fin](/source/Dorsal_fin) which all have a tassel of [cirri](/source/Cirrus_(biology)) at their tip and moderate incisions on the membranes between them, except that there is a deep incision between the fifth and sixth spines. The roof of the mouth has a small number of small teeth. The upper three fifths of the margin of the [preoperculum](/source/Preoperculum) has large serrations, the rest of the margin of it is smooth. The dorsal profile of the snout is convex. The [caudal fin](/source/Caudal_fin) is truncate and the [pelvic fin](/source/Pelvic_fin) extends past the anus.[2] ## Distribution and habitat *Cirrhitops* consists of three parapatric species, the redbarred hawkfish is now regarded as endemic to Hawaii[6] while the newly described *C. mascarenensis* has been recorded from Madagascar and the [Mascarene Islands](/source/Mascarene_Islands) in the southwestern Indian Ocean.[4] The third species *C. hubbardi* has been recorded from the [Cook Islands](/source/Cook_Islands), [French Polynesia](/source/French_Polynesia); Japan, the [Phoenix Islands](/source/Phoenix_Islands), the [Kiribati](/source/Kiribati) [Line Islands](/source/Line_Islands), [Pitcairn Island](/source/Pitcairn_Island), Tonga and the [United States Minor Outlying Islands](/source/United_States_Minor_Outlying_Islands).[7] They are found on coral reefs.[5] ## References 1. Randall, J. E. (1963). ["Review of the hawkfishes (family Cirrhitidae)"](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7757644#page/463/mode/1up). *Proceedings of the United States National Museum*. **114** (3472): 389-451. 1. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (eds.) (25 February 2021). ["Order CENTRARCHIFORMES: Families CENTRARCHIDAE, ELASSOMATIDAE, ENOPLOSIDAE, SINIPERCIDAE, APLODACTYLIDAE, CHEILODACTYLIDAE, CHIRONEMIDAE, CIRRHITIDAE, LATRIDAE, PERCICHTHYIDAE, DICHISTIIDAE, GIRELLIDAE, KUHLIIDAE, KYPHOSIDAE, OPLEGNATHIDAE, TERAPONTIDAE, MICROCANTHIDAE and SCORPIDIDAE"](https://etyfish.org/centrarchiformes/). *The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database*. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 13 July 2021. 1. Randall J.E & J.K. Schultz (2008). ["*Cirrhitops mascarenensis*, a new species of hawkfish from, the Mascarene Islands, southwestern Indian Ocean"](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/54878562#page/18/mode/1up). *Smithiana, Publications in Aquatic Biodiversity*. '***(9): 15-20.*** 1. Greenfield, D. & Williams, I. (2016). "*Cirrhitops fasciatus*". [doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T67997694A68001666.en](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T67997694A68001666.en). Retrieved 13 July 2021. 1. Greenfield, D. & Williams, I. (2016). "*Cirrhitops hubbardi*". [doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T67996584A68001671.en](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T67996584A68001671.en). Retrieved 13 July 2021. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cirrhitops](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrhitops) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrhitops?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.