Anemone Hermit Crab

I saw this today when we were near the shore getting ready to exit the water.

This little hermit crab shares a symbiotic relationship with an anemone.

The anemone attached to the shell provides camouflage, protection, and the two invertebrates share food. In the wild, when the crab moves the anemone about the reef, it helps the anemones disperse. 

When the crab outgrows its shell, it will leave it behind and find a new, larger shell and transfer the anemone on to it or select a larger anemone.

Kikakapu--Lined Butterflyfish

The largest of all butterfly fish. Called Kikakapu here is Hawaii. We see a pair of them when snorkeling. They are almost always found in pairs.

They are quite large and elegant. A treat to see.

He'e--Octopus

Rich saw a large octopus today. When he saw it, it was sitting on top of a rock looking like a teddy bear. It was large, about 6-8 inches of body with tendrils wrapped around hidden. When Rich put attention on it, he slinked down into a crevice.

When I saw him, all I could see was this black blob with beautiful soulful eyes looking at me. I swam away and saw him slink up the rock very slowly.

It is pretty exciting to see an octopus. The first time I sawone he was sneaking from underneath coral to coral. He saw me trying to get a good look at him and made sure he completely disappeared under the coral. I got to see him swim, tentacles and all. He was pretty small, about 2 inches in the body



Aside from being tasty, the octopus, or he'e in Hawaiian, is possibly the most intelligent of all invertebrates (animals without backbones). He'e have large brains in comparison to their body size, image-forming eyes, a talent for problem solving, and a wide variety of defense mechanisms.  

Octopuses all have a funnel, which aids in propulsion, eight arms surrounding a central mouth, three hearts, an ink sac, a hard beak and a toothed tongue. They have no bones or shells, so they are able to swim through very narrow crevices. 

The most frequently seen octopus in Hawaii is the day octopus, or he'e mauli, probably because, as the common name might suggest, they are more active during the daytime and retreat into their lairs (holes in the reef) at night. Like many shallow water octopus, they generally live about a year. They have 8 arms with 1,920 muscular suction cups, which are used to cling to the rocks, move around the reef, and find food. 

He'e mauli can display a wide variety of colors and textures on its head and arms, which may serve as camouflage as well as a mode of communication. Crabs are a favorite food of the he'e mauli, whose lairs are often identified by the presence of empty shells surrounding the entrance. The octopus can capture prey using its web, and may inject poisonous saliva to weaken or kill the animal. The he'e has a strong beak and radula (a toothy-tongue) to aid in opening up hard shells such as cowries and crabs. 

We need to appreciate the beauty and wonder of these underwater masters of disguise and do our part to ensure their longevity for future generations to come.

Rich saw a red one at another time.

Saddle Snake Eel

Rich saw this snake looking eel. They are common is sandy shallow areas but stay hidden during the day coming out late afternoon and night. They can grow to 27 inches.

Puhi--Zebra Moray Eel

Rich saw this guy and pointed him out to me today. I didn't get to see his head, just a large part of his body.

The Zebra Moray Eels have small pebble like teeth unlike most other morays. With these teeth they are able to crush the shells of their prey, such as crabs. Zebra morays are shy and uncommon.

Rockmover Wrasse

Love this fish. Look at his eye makeup!

He likes areas with sand and loose coral so he can turn over rocks searching for food. Rich saw him doing this. He is one of the most active fishes on the reef. The juvenile is pretty exotic looking and is called the Dragon Wrasse.

video of rockmover wrasse at work

This is a mature juvenile. You can see the adult in his coloration.

Hinalea lauwili--Saddle Wrasse

Rich called this the "red, white, and blue" fish before we identified him.

They are the most common of all the reef fish found in Hawaii. Found in areas with rubble bottoms which favors their feeding habits, the species has been observed periodically cleaning larger fish and turtles.

Juvenile Yellowtail Wrasse--Nemo Lookalike

Thought I saw "Nemo" today, but was a juvenile Yellowtail Wrasse. Here is a photo of the adult, an earlier post.








Here is the juvenile:

As you can see from the photo of the juvenile, the Adult Yellowtail Wrasse looks nothing like its youngster.

Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse

This one Rich spotted. A beautiful, bright, colorful, small fish.

Cleaner Wrasses move about with a darting motion. They establish a cleaning station on the reef where resident fish come to have parasites removed. When a fish moves into the cleaning station, the wrasse will begin to pick and remove the parasites on the host fish.

The Cleaner Wrasse is also responsible for dental care and will often go into the mouth of larger fishes and come out the gills.

This Wrasse has an elongated, compressed body. The head is tapering and bears a pointed snout with a small mouth and thick lips. It is a Wrasse species that is small, only reaching an average length of about 3.5 inches. It has bright neon purple, black and yellow colors as an adult, and black with neon purple stripe as a juvenile.

Most Wrasses burrow into the sand at night. This species usually forms a balloon-like, mucous cocoon, and spends the night resting within it, but will burrow as well.

The name given to this fish explains exactly what it's function is, it "cleans" other fish, ridding them of parasites. When you are swimming the reef you will come across "cleaning stations" where you find other reef fish stopped for the Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse to pick them over to remove any parasites they may have on their bodies or in their gills.

Because the Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse's diet is mainly derived from its symbiotic relationship with other fish by eating parasites, this Wrasse does not do well in captivity. It is extremely difficult to get this fish to eat any other types of foods, and once the parasite food population is gone it results in poor health, and most likely death for the Wrasse.

'Aha---Needlefish

These cutes little fishes are very curious. They swim up near the surface of the water and will follow you and you snorkel along.

Needlefish are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea.

Needlefish are slender fish, ranging from 3 centimetres (1.2 in) to 95 centimetres (37 in) in length. Their most distinctive feature is their long narrow beak, which bears multiple sharp teeth. In most species, the upper jaw only reaches its full length in adulthood, so that the juveniles have a half-beak appearance, with an elongate lower jaw, but a much smaller upper one. During this stage of their life cycle, they eat plankton, switching to fish once the beak fully develops.

Here a needlefish is being cleaned by a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse.

Needlefish are capable of making short jumps out of the water at up to 38 miles per hour. Since needlefish swim near the surface, they often leap over the decks of shallow boats rather than going around. This jumping activity is greatly excited by artificial light at night; night fisherman and divers in areas across the Pacific Ocean have been "attacked" by schools of suddenly excited needlefish diving across the water towards the light source at high speed. Their sharp beak is capable of inflicting deep puncture wounds, often breaking off inside the victim in the process. For many traditional Pacific Islander communities, who primarily fish on reefs from low boats, needlefish represent an even greater risk of injury than sharks.

Wewe--Yellow Striped Goatfish

This little guy is a bottom feeder. He uses his whiskers to stir up the bottom to morsels to eat. In the words of wiki:

Yellow goatfish are tireless benthic feeders, using a pair of long chemosensory barbels ("whiskers") protruding from their chins to rifle through the sediments in search of a meal. May grow up to 39 centimetres (15 in) in length. They usually feed off of smaller fish, hunting in a school during the day, and alone at night.

Honu--The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

We have seen honu many times. Yesterday, when it was turbulent, I almosts swam into him. I was swimming towards him. Rich pulled me back. Then we just watched him, but because of the currents, had to keep pulling away as the current was washing us towards him/her.

Video of honu eating at Kahalu'u 
honu eating breaksfast

The green turtle is listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In 1978, the Hawaiian population of the green turtle was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973.

honu swimming
Green turtles were a source of food, tools, and ornamentation for early Hawaiians. With the arrival of western culture, however, the level of exploitation of this resource increased dramatically. Large numbers of green turtles were harvested throughout the Hawaiian Islands through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1974, the State of Hawaii finally passed a regulation providing some protection, but this was virtually ignored until 1978, when the Hawaiian green turtle was placed on the list of threatened species.

 Fortunately, over 90% of nesting activity for the Hawaiian green turtle population occurs at the French Frigate Shoals, inside a National Wildlife Refuge System administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This, combined with its threatened status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, has created an environment in which the Hawaiian green turtle should prosper. 

The green sea turtle is the largest hard-shelled sea turtle. Adults of this species commonly reach 100 cm in carapace length and 150 kg in mass. The average size of a female nesting at the French Frigate Shoals was reported in 1980 to be 92 cm straight carapace length, with an average body mass of 115 kg. This is somewhat smaller than her Atlantic cousin.

Based on growth rate measurements, George Balazs estimates the age of the Hawaiian green turtle at sexual maturity can range from 11 to 59 years. (Yes, 59 years!)
Hawaiian green turtles occupy three habitat types:

• Nesting and basking beaches, almost exclusively in the French Frigate Shoals.
• Convergence zones in the pelagic habitat.
• Benthic feeding grounds in relatively shallow waters.

Females deposit egg clutches on beaches in the French Frigate Shoals, digging a deep nest cavity above the high water line. Eggs incubate for approximately 65 days before hatching. Hatchlings leave the beach and apparently move into convergence zones in the open ocean where they spend an undetermined length of time. Hawaiian green turtles reach a carapace length of approximately 35 cm, about 10 cm larger than juveniles of other green turtle populations, before leaving the pelagic habitat and entering benthic feeding grounds.

One interesting behaviour of the Hawaiian green turtle is its fondness for crawling ashore at isolated sites in order to bask. Basking is rare among marine turtles, and has been observed in only a few populations in the Pacific. Hawaiian green turtles bask, but this behaviour seems to be limited to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is thought that they do this for thermoregulation (they like to warm up in the sun), resting (they like to sleep in the sun), and perhaps for protection from tiger sharks (they don't like to be eaten). Sounds just like people to us.

 While Hawaiian greens are primarily vegetarians, it is clear that they aren't fanatics about it.
Female green turtles emerge at night to deposit eggs, the process taking an average of two hours. Up to seven clutches are deposited at 12 to 14 day intervals, but the average is probably two or three clutches. Accurate counts of the number of clutches per season are difficult to get. The average clutch size is 100-110 eggs.

The Hawaiian green turtle enjoys the benefits of a protected and isolated nesting habitat and low levels of predation. Unlike many nesting areas throughout the world, there are no nest-raiding predators (not even humans) in the French Frigate Shoals. Ghost crabs prey upon hatchlings, but estimates of losses to crabs do not exceed 5%. Unlike other nesting beaches throughout the world, hatchlings are not greeted by predatory birds, and the loss to carnivorous fishes does not appear to be significant. Hatchlings in the French Frigate Shoals do not suffer from human interference either; there are no distracting lights from developments and no destructive beach activities.

Hawaiian green turtles nest in the isolated French Frigate Shoals, but forage throughout the entire Hawaiian Archipelago, a range of 2450 km. Tagging has indicated that most Hawaiian green turtles seem to settle at a specific foraging ground and leave only to reproduce. 

• Found throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago, a range of about 2450 km
• A gentle vegetarian, feeding almost exclusively on algae
• The most valuable of all reptiles, they were once killed for their skins, calipee, meat and shells, but are no longer hunted in Hawaii
• In parts of Hawaii (Honokowai) more than 90% of the green sea turtles are afflicted with fibropapilloma tumors
• The largest of the hard-shelled marine turtles: common adult weight of 115 kg and length of over 90 cm
• Hatchlings: 4-5 cm in length

Nunu--Yellow Trumpetfish

Saw this unusually looking fish yesterday when we were snorkeling in turbulent waters.

Trumpetfish are closely related to cornetfish. Trumpetfish can a bit more than 36 inches (3 ft.)long and have greatly elongated bodies with small jaws at the front end of a long, tubular snout. The gills are pectinate, resembling the teeth of a comb, and a soft dorsal fin is found near the tail fin. A series of spines occurs in front of the dorsal fin. Trumpetfish vary in color from dark brown to greenish but also yellow in some areas. A black streak, sometimes reduced to a dark spot, occurs along the jaw, and a pair of dark spots is sometimes found on the base of the tail fin.

Trumpetfish swim slowly, sneaking up on unsuspecting prey, or lie motionless like a floating stick, swaying back and forth with the wave action of the water. They are adept at camouflaging themselves and often swim in alignment with other larger fishes. They feed almost exclusively on small fish, such as wrasses and atheriniformes,by sucking them suddenly into their small mouths.

Puhi--White Mouthed Moral Eel

Interesting little guy. First time I have seen him. His head was poking out of some coral just like in this photo.

The moray eel breathes by rhythmically opening and closing its mouth to move water over its gills.  Some moray eels have blunt teeth that are used to crush invertebrates, but many moray species have needle-sharp teeth.

Kala--Blue Spined Unicorn Fish

We saw these interesting fishes when we went into deeper water today.

Turns out they are great aquarium fish.

The unicornfish, are all known to be peaceful fish and the Bluespine Unicornfish or Unicorn Tang is one of the most mellow. Though it will constantly be on the move during the day, it will spend its time surveying the decor and munching on algae growths. It will be a little shy at first, but will adapt well to captivity if given it lots of room to roam around in and plenty of naturally growing algae. 

Once eating it can be offered a variety of algae based aquarium fare for its basic diet, along with some meaty foods.

The Bluespine Unicornfish is one of the largest fish to be sold in the aquarium industry (over 2 feet in length) so only the largest tanks can house it. It has an amicable nature and will get along with most other marine fish. 

It can be kept with a variety of tank mates including other genus' of surgeonfish. However unless you have a huge (hundreds of gallons) system, it is best to house just one Naso tang to a tank.
Like all surgeonfish and tangs, the Bluespine Unicornfish likes a lot of water turbulence rather than a placid aquarium. Being very active during the day they need a large tank with plenty of room to swim about but will also need rocks/ corals to provide some cover and to sleep in at night. As they are primarily herbivores they generally ignore invertebrates, but lush natural algae growth will be greatly appreciated. Once they get acclimated and become accustom to aquarium foods they are quite hardy and long lived.

O'opu hue--Hawaiian Puffer Fish

Rich has been seeing these all week and pointed one out to me this morning. This wasn't a little fish. It was about 10 inched long.

Puffers are morphologically similar to the closely related porcupinefish, which have large external spines (unlike the thinner, hidden spines of Tetraodontidae, which are only visible when the fish has puffed up). The scientific name refers to the four large teeth, fused into an upper and lower plate, which are used for crushing the shells of crustaceans and mollusks, their natural prey.

Puffer fish are generally believed to be the second–most poisonous vertebrate in the world, after the Golden Poison Frog. Certain internal organs, such as liver, and sometimes their skin are highly toxic to most animals when eaten, but nevertheless the meat of some species is considered a delicacy in Japan ( pronounced as fugu), Korea (as bok), and China when prepared by chefs who know which part is safe to eat and in what quantity.

They are most diverse in the tropics and relatively uncommon in thetemperate zone and completely absent from cold waters. They are typically small to medium in size, although a few species can reach lengths of greater than 100 centimetres (39 in)

The puffer's unique and distinctive natural defenses help compensate for their slow locomotion. Puffers move by combining pectoral, dorsal,anal, and caudal fins. This makes them highly maneuverable but very slow, and therefore comparatively easy predation targets. Their tail fin is mainly used as a rudder, but it can be used for a sudden evasive burst of speed that shows none of the care and precision of their usual movements. The puffer's excellent eyesight combined with this speed burst is the first and most important defense against predators. Their back up defense mechanism, used if they are successfully pursued, is to fill their extremely elastic stomachs with water (or air when outside the water) until they are much larger and almost spherical in shape. Even if they are not visible when the puffer is not inflated, all puffers have pointed spines, so a hungry predator may suddenly find itself facing an unpalatable pointy ball rather than a slow, tasty fish. Predators which don't heed this warning (or who are "lucky" enough to catch the puffer suddenly, before or during inflation) may die from choking, and predators that do manage to swallow the puffer may find their stomaches full of tetrodotoxin, making puffers an unpleasant, possibly lethal, choice of prey. This neurotoxin is found primarily in the ovaries and liver, although smaller amounts exist in the intestines and skin, as well as trace amounts in muscle. It does not always have a lethal effect on large predators, such as sharks, but it can kill humans.

Not all puffers are necessarily poisonous; Takifugu oblongus, for example, is a fugu puffer that is not poisonous, and toxin level varies wildly even in fish that are. A puffer's neurotoxin is not necessarily as toxic to other animals as it is to humans, and puffers are eaten routinely by some species of fish, such as lizardfish and tiger sharks. Also, Japanese fish farmers have grown nonpoisonous puffers by controlling their diet.

Puffers are able to move their eyes independently, and many species can change the color or intensity of their patterns in response to environmental changes. In these respects they are somewhat similar to the terrestrial chameleon. Although most puffers are drab, many have bright colors and distinctive markings and make no attempt to hide from predators. This is likely an example of aposematism.

Whitespotted Boxfish

Cut little fishes, 2-4 inches. Males bright blue, top of squarish body orange with white spots. Females uniformly brown with white spots.

They come in a variety of different colors, and are notable for the hexagonal or "honeycomb" patterns in their skin. They swim in a rowing manner. The hexagonal plate-like scales of these fish are fused together into a solid, triangular, box-like carapace, from which the fins, tail, eyes and mouth protrude. Because of these heavy armoured scales, Ostraciidae are limited to slow movements, but few other fish are able to eat the adults. Ostraciidae of the Genus Lactophrys also secrete poisons from their skin into the surrounding water, further protecting them from predation. Although the adults are in general quite square in shape, young Ostraciidae are more rounded. The young often also exhibit brighter colors.

Humuhumu'ele'ele--Black Durgon or Trigger Fish

A beautiful fish!!

The black triggerfish, Melichthys niger, called Humuhumu'ele'ele in Hawaiian, is a blimp-shaped triggerfish with bright white lines running along its dorsal and anal fins. When in the water, it appears to be completely black. However, if it is taken out and exposed to bright light, one can see that it is actually of a dark-blue/green coloration.

 Triggerfishes have a very characteristic way of swimming, propelling themselves through
the water using waving motions of the broadened dorsal (top) and anal (bottom) fins. This kind
of swimming allows them great maneuverability. They can go forward, backward, or even hover
over the reef, but they cannot swim at great speed at length. Thrust for a quick dash into the
protection of the reef is made is made using the broom-like tail. When pursued by a predator,
triggerfishes sometimes make grunting sounds which may serve to warn nearby triggerfish of
danger. The eyes of these wary fish are set high on their heads and can move independently, so
that they can scan the reef for food and predators.

 When threatened, a triggerfish dives into a hole or crevice in the reef and wedges itself
into the shelter by erecting the large dorsal spine on the head. The spine is locked into place by a
second, smaller spine behind it and can only be unlocked by the fish itself. Another spine on the
fish's belly also extends to help wedge the fish securely into its shelter. Triggerfish also use this
wedging behavior at night, when they rest within the reef in a preferred shelter hole that they use
over and over.

 Triggerfishes have fused teeth and can feed on hard-shelled animals like snails, corals,
shrimp and crabs, and sea urchins. The family contains some of the few fishes that can feed on
the long-spined sea urchins (wana). Their high-set eyes and tough skin allow them to approach
the urchin closely enough to grab the long spines in their teeth. They flip the urchin over and
attack it around its softer mouth area where the spines are shorter. Other triggerfishes feed on
sand-dwelling organisms which they locate by blowing water into the sand to uncover the hidden
prey. A few triggerfishes feed on zooplankton, the small animals that drift in the water above
the reef. The black triggerfish, for example, is often found 15 to 30 feet (4.5-9 m) above the
bottom, plucking food from the water along with the schools of plankton-feeding butterflyfishes
and others.

Hinalea'akilolo--Yellowtailed Coris

The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. They are typically small fish, with most less than 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, although the largest, the Humphead wrasse, can measure up to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft). They are efficient carnivores, feeding on a wide range of small invertebrates. Many smaller wrasses follow the feeding trails of larger fish, picking up invertebrates disturbed by their passing.

The word "wrasse" comes via Cornish from the Welsh word gwrach meaning an old woman or hag.

Wrasses inhabit the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, usually in shallow water habitats such as coral reefs and rocky shores where they live close to the substrate.

The juvenile looks like nemo. There is a blog about him.

Humahumanukanukaapua'a--Hawaiian State Fish--Triggerfish

Humu has an attitude! Very territorial and will charge a snorkeler. Rich can tell you all about it.

I call him Mr. Blue Lips.

The reef, rectangular, or wedge-tail triggerfish, also known by its Hawaiian name, humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa, or just humuhumu for short; meaning "triggerfish with a snout like a pig"), is one of several species of triggerfish. Classified as Rhinecanthus rectangulus, it is endemic to the salt water coasts of various central and south Pacific Ocean islands. It is often asserted that the Hawaiian name is one of the longest words in the Hawaiian Language and that "the name is longer than the fish."

The triggerfish's teeth are blue and they are set close together inside its relatively chubby mouth, it has a small second spine, which it can use to lock its main spine into an upright position. The triggerfish can wedge itself into small crevices and lock its spine to make it extremely difficult to get out. In addition, when fleeing from predators, the triggerfish will sometimes make grunting noises, possibly a call to warn other nearby triggerfish of danger at hand.

Triggers have the remarkable ability to rapidly alter their coloration. They can fade into a relatively drab appearance when sleeping or demonstrating submission while the coloration is often the most vivid when the fish is healthy and unthreatened by its surrounding.

One particularly interesting aspect of the fish's behavior is the ability to blow jets of water from its mouth. These jets help the fish find benthic invertebrates that may be buried under the substrate. Triggerfish can often be seen spitting sand from their mouths in order to sift through the material in search of edible detritus or organisms. Reef triggers are fairly aggressive and will generally not tolerate conspecific species in its general vicinity, thus the fish is often found solitary. This is particularly true in captivity. Triggers have the remarkable ability to rapidly alter their coloration. They can fade into a relatively drab appearance when sleeping or demonstrating submission while the coloration is often the most vivid when the fish is healthy and unthreatened by its surroundings.