The dwarf hawkfish, Cirrhitichthys falco, is a hawkfish of the family Cirrhitidae found across the western Indo-Pacific Oceans.

This hawkfish can reach a maximum length of 7 cm. They are red-pink and white in color, and have tassles on the tip of their dorsal fins.

They inhabit tropical reefs and feed on very small fish and benthic invertebrates.

Transgender characteristics

| Hawkfish can "switch" gender roles in a matter of weeks. Males can become females, and females can become males in a biological inconsistency. Hawkfish live in harems with a dominant male, but if a male has too many females in his harem, then the subdominant female may break away and begin to produce testosterone and change gender in a effort to challenge the dominant male.

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). "Cirrhitichthys aprinus" in FishBase. January 2007 version.
• (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21332-zoologger-transgender-fish-perform-reverse-sex-flip.html) - by: Chelsea Whyte of (www.newscientist.com)