A mostly red tropical reef fish, the Hawaiian Menpachi squirrelfish stays in underwater caves during the day, swimming after dark to forage for food in the shallow waters above the reefs. They feed on crabs, invertebrates, zooplankton, and small fish. Because they are active mainly at night, their large eyes are important, as nocturnal creatures. Menpachi fish are good to eat and are often hunted by harpoon fishermen. It is not a large fish, it is usually no more than 12 inches long.
Although edible, some of the other species of squirrelfish are generally not used for eating as they are small, generally have rough scales, and their spines are sharp.
The squirrel fish called ala’ihi by Hawaiians is red in color with multiple white or silver stripes. The name of this fish is often seen without the apostrophe as alaihi. It is often the subject of paintings and posters, as it is an attractive and colorful fish.
In addition to those found in the waters near Hawaii, several species of squirrelfish live in warm waters near the coasts of the United States from North Carolina to Florida. They can also be found in the warm coastal waters of Bermuda, parts of the Gulf of Mexico, the West Indies, and the Caribbean, in addition to southern Brazil in South America.
When it comes to keeping squirrel fish in an aquarium, it is possible, but it is essential that they are in a large tank (any with more than 70 gallons of water is best), with enough places for them to hide (such as in spaces between rocks and other types of crevices). As a nocturnal fish that avoids light and eats at night, keep the lighting low and feed them at the times they are used to (at night, in the dark, or in very low light). They can be fed shrimp (live feed or freeze-dried shrimp), crabs, minced seafood, and some types of worms. Squirrelfish that are kept in an aquarium generally do not grow as large as those that live in their natural habitat, and the aquarium squirrelfish generally grow to around 5 inches in length, where some species in the wild are known to measure around 24 inches long in its entirety. growth (such as Holocentrus spinifer, a Pacific squirrelfish).
Nature has a built-in defense system for the squirrel fish. This is their ability to make sounds by vibrating their swim bladders. These noises warn other squirrelfish of danger and can also be used to warn fish that they may only be a minor threat to the squirrelfish. The sounds range from a growl to a click, where the growl can be used more to warn small threats to stay away and the click as a signal that there is a bigger threat that the squirrelfish should stay away from.
Squirrelfish belong to the Holocentridae family and the Holocentrinae subfamily. The name can also be seen as two words: squirrel fish. Under the genus Myripristis is the similar soldier fish.
There are many different species of squirrelfish, a sample of which are: crown, dwarf, lattice, saber, spotfin, threespot, and tinsel.
These keywords can be a starting point for you to do more research to find even more information on the squirrelfish topic and various species of squirrelfish.
The site fish.explore-topics.com/articles is a great resource for information on many different types of fish and all things fish related.
