Scientific name:
Bodianus mesothorax
Distinctive features:
Wide black band on forebody. Black spot on pectoral fin base.
Size:
to 19 cm (7.5 in.)
Blackbelt hogfish have a dark front half of the body and white to yellowish rear half of the body. Separating these two regions is a wide, oblique black band, or its “black belt.” A black spot at the base of the pectoral fin base is present. In the juvenile phase, blackbelt hogfish are purple to nearly black with a double row of large black edged yellow spots.