FishCommonVisible while snorkeling

Arabian picassofish

Rhinecanthus assasi

As if an abstract painting had come to life: the blue-lipped, gold-lined picassofish is the artist of the shallow sandy lagoons.

Photo: iNaturalist – (c) dachalan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

The Arabian picassofish (Rhinecanthus assasi) truly earns its name: bold blue lines cross the eye on its cream-coloured body, blue "lipstick" rims its mouth, and black-and-gold markings decorate the tail base – as if designed by a cubist painter. Better still, this is the Red Sea region's very own picasso: unlike its Pacific cousins, it is found only here, in the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf.

It lives in shallow sandy and rubbly lagoons and on reef flats. It finds its food on the bottom: with its powerful jaws it blasts jets of water into the sand to flip out crabs, urchins, snails and worms. It is territorial – it patrols and defends its own little kingdom – but leaves people alone, at most gliding off with dignity, propelled by its characteristically undulating dorsal and anal fins.

Around Hurghada this is one of the most rewarding species for beginners: it appears from ankle-deep water onwards, so it is easy to watch over the sand patches while snorkeling. As a diver, look for it on the shallow sections at the start and end of your dive – it almost always works alone, nose down in the sand. Approach slowly and it lets you get surprisingly close.

Did you know?

At night it wedges itself into a narrow crevice and erects its first dorsal spine, which the second "trigger" spine locks into place – hence the name triggerfish. Locked in like this, no predator can pull it out of its hole.

Where can you meet it?

As a fish of shallow sandy lagoons it is almost guaranteed on the sand patches of Shaab Sabina and El Aruk, the Gota Abu Ramada plateau and the shallows of El Fanadir.

Frequently asked questions

No – the picassofish is the gentler edition of its big cousin's notorious temper. It is territorial, but given its small size it will at most swim off or grumpily move aside. You can safely watch it while snorkeling – just never grab at it.

It is one of the shallowest-living reef fish: you can meet it in half a metre of water, and it rarely goes below 25 metres. It is an ideal snorkeling species – floating over a sandy lagoon you are almost certain to see one.

Because of its bold, geometric pattern: the blue lines through the eye, the gold bands and the black patches together look like something that swam straight off a modern painting. Its scientific name, assasi, comes from the fish's Arabic name.