Holocentridae
by A. Ben-Tuvia
Body compressed usually of reddish colour. Eyes large, mouth large, teeth in jaws small, in bands; teeth on vomer, palatines and in the genus Sargocentron also on ectopterygoids. Anal always with 4 spines, the third enlarged in Holocentrinae. 11-12 dorsal spines. Pelvics with 1 spine and 7 soft rays.
Mostly in shallow tropical and subtropical waters, on rocky grounds, often in caves; many species inhabit coral reefs. Some species descend to depths of 100 m. Feeding habits mostly nocturnal, feed on bottom-living invertebrates.
Eggs and larvae are pelagic. Juvenile holocentrids are planktonic, silverish and have a characteristic long pointed snout and head spines (often referred to as rhynichthys stages). Some large species in tropics are valued as food.
Genera 7; in Clofnam area 1.
Recent revisions: Woods and Sonoda (1973), Woods and Greenfield (1975), Shimizu and Yamakawa (1979), Randall and Hemstra (1985).
Subfamilies
Two subfamilies are recognized: Holocentrinae with a strong spine at angle of preopercle and 7-10 soft rays in anal fin and Myripristinae with short or no spine and more than 10 rays in anal fin. There are also differences in the anatomy of communication between swimbladder and skull. Only Holocentrinae are present in Clofnam area.