Cephalopholis sexmaculata is active nocturnally in shallow water and diurnally in deeper water, and is considered a good-eating food fish.
Details
§ 01
size
Common to 35 cm; max. 48 cm
color
Orange-red with many small blue spots on head, body and median fins (short blue lines may be present on head). Four squarish black blotches dorsally on body, and two more on caudal peduncle.
This species is typically found on coral reefs between depths of 10-150 meters. It usually inhabits caves and crevices on the outer reef slope, and its diet consists mainly of fish.
distinctive characters
The fish has a dorsal fin with nine spines and fourteen to sixteen rays, an anal fin with three spines and nine rays, and a pectoral fin with sixteen to eighteen rays. Its body depth is two and a half to three inches in standard length, and its maxilla reaches to or past the vertical at the rear edge of its orbit. The preopercle is rounded, and the lower edge is fleshy. The pelvic fins do not reach the anus, the interorbital area is flat to slightly convex, and the caudal and anal fins are rounded.