Falco hawkfish

Care at a glance

The falco hawkfish is a smaller cousin of the flame hawkfish, with a more subtle pink-red mottled pattern on a pale body. Like other hawkfish it has no swim bladder and spends most of the day perched motionless on a branch or rock, waiting for prey to pass by.

Its small size suits modest reef tanks, but keep in mind it treats small shrimp and other small invertebrates as prey — one reason reefkeepers call it reef safe "with caution". Beyond that it's one of the easier marine fish to keep: hardy, not disease-prone and unfussy about food.

Good to know

• Preys on shrimp and snails

Best not combined with

• Dwarf seahorseHippocampus zosterae
• Peppermint shrimpLysmata wurdemanni
• Sexy shrimpThor amboinensis

Related species

• Flame hawkfishNeocirrhites armatus
• Lyretail anthiasPseudanthias squamipinnis
• Foxface rabbitfishSiganus vulpinus
• Yellowtail damselfishChrysiptera parasema
• Yellow clown gobyGobiodon okinawae
• Sohal tangAcanthurus sohal