An adult split down the middle - dark in front, pale behind - with a black mark in the armpit that gives it the name. Twenty centimeters (8 in), and usually found near the roof of a cave rather than out on the reef.
The juvenile is unmistakable and completely different: black with large round white spots, and it hovers under overhangs picking parasites off other fish. Young hogfish work as cleaners, which buys a small vulnerable animal safe conduct among larger ones, and they drop the trade as they grow.
Adults hunt hard-shelled prey on the reef - crabs, brittle stars, small molluscs - with the heavy canines the group is named for.
It is a deep-water fish as much as a shallow one, recorded to a hundred meters, and the ones divers see are at the shallow end of that range. Look for the juveniles first: at overhangs, in shade, spotted, and busy.
The species. Bodianus axillaris (Bennett 1832) - axillaris. ETYFish
- adults with a dark front half and a pale rear, split cleanly down the middle
- black spot at the base of the pectoral fin
- juveniles black with bold white spots, hovering under overhangs
- length up to 20 cm
Why it's threatened
This species is not commonly marketed and is occasionally seen in the aquarium trade. It is sometimes caught as fisheries bycatch.
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
