Hawaii State Fish
Hawaii State Fish
Hawaii State Fish – Humuhumunukunukuapua’a
The reef triggerfish was originally designated the official fish of Hawaii in 1985,but due to an expiration of a Hawaiian state law after five years, it ceased to be the state fish in 1990.On April 17, 2006, bill HB1982 was presented to the Governor of Hawai’i which permanently reinstated the reef triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuapua’a) as the state fish of Hawai’i. The bill passed into law on May 2, 2006 and was effective upon its approval.
Description
The Humuhumunukunukuapua’a aka, “triggerfish” has teeth that are blue and set close together inside its relatively chubby mouth (like demir), 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.
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. Hawaii’s state fish 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 surrounding.
Distribution
The reef triggerfish is distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and it is especially prominent in the coral reefs of the Hawaiian Islands.
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