Giant Hawkfish

The giant hawkfish has a deep body which is not highly laterally compressed. They have large heads with a blunt snout and have a fringe of cirri on the posterior margin of the anterior nostril. They have a moderately large mouth with two types of teeth, an outer row of canines and an inner row of villiform teeth. There are also teeth on the centre and sides of the roof of the mouth. The upper margin of the preoperculum either has small serrations or is smooth and the gill cover has 2 flattened spines. They have a continuous dorsal fin which has 10 spines, the membranes between the spines having deep notches and the tip of each spine has a large tuft of cirri, and 11-12 soft rays with a small incision separating the spiny portion from the soft rayed portion. The anal fin contains 3 spines and 5-7 soft rays. The caudal fin is truncate.

The giant hawkfish is endemic to the eastern Pacific Ocean. It occurs from southern Baja California and the northern Sea of Cortez to Ecuador, including all of the offshore islands in that region. It is found on reefs in shallow waters at depths down to 30 m (98 ft). The juveniles occur in the surge zone and in tidal pools.