Author: (Rüppell, 1835)
Comments: Occurs on coral reefs and adjacent habitats, on sand and coral rubble. The fish take a mouthful of sand and gravel from the substratum, where small fossorial prey are sorted out within the mouth and pharynx, and inorganic fragments are forcefully ejected from of the mouth.  May also feed opportunistically on larger prey (crabs, echinoids, molluscs, ophiuroids, polychaetes) (Ref. 93095). Large breeding males in the Red Sea observed to exhibit h a reversal of the black-and-white barred color pattern of the body similar to <i>H. fasciatus</i> (Ref. 34222).