Red, ruled with white stripes, with an eye far too big for a fish of 17 cm (7 in) and a tall spiny dorsal fin banded dark red. By day it hangs under a ledge facing out, in a group, and a torch beam finds a row of them looking back.
The eye and the color are one adaptation. Squirrelfishes hunt after dark on open sand, and the retina is built for it - rod-dense, backed by a reflective layer that gives light a second pass. Red is the first color to disappear with depth, so a red fish in the dark is effectively invisible, and the same animal that looks garish under a torch is unlit and unseen the rest of the night.
They talk. Muscles attached to the swim bladder produce grunts and staccato clicks used in disputes and alarm, and a cave full of squirrelfish at dusk is audible from outside it.
The cheek spine carries venom, which is unusual in the family and worth knowing: it is a defensive weapon aimed at whatever grabs the fish, and a sting from one is painful out of proportion to the size of the animal.
The genus. Sargocentron Fowler 1904 - sargós (Greek) + centron (any sharp point). ETYFish
- red body ruled with clean white horizontal stripes
- tall spiny dorsal fin marked with a dark red band and white tips
- very large eye; hangs under a ledge facing out
- length up to 17 cm
