English: Squirrelfish.
Clades:
Beryciformes.
Families: Holocentridae.
Region: Indian, Pacific, Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
Habitat: tropical; reefs in the Indo-Pacific; shoreline to 100 m, some, Ostichthys, are generally found far deeper.
ZoologyFish; nocturnal, relatively large eyes; hiding in crevices, caves, or under ledges during daytime.
Size: 15 to 35 cm, 8 to 50 cm.
Color: red, silvery.
Fins: preopercle spines, near the gill opening of Holocentrinae are venomous, can give painful wounds.
Food: small fishes, benthic invertebrates; soldierfishes typically feed on zooplankton.
Growth: larvae are pelagic, far out to sea.
GeneraHolocentrinae: Squirrelfish
• Holocentrus
• Neoniphon
• Sargocentron
Myripristinae: Soldierfish
• Corniger
• Myripristis
• Ostichthys
• Plectrypops
• Pristilepis