The fish species of Hawaii inhabit the

Hawaiian archipelago The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

in the central North Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and northeast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The islands are part of the

State of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, United States. The state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, comprising hundreds of islands spread over . At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight "main islands" are (from the northwest to southeast) Niihau,

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

, Oahu,

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...

, Lānai, Kahoolawe,

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

, and Hawaii. The

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Hawaiian Islands are a series of islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest (in some cases, far to the northwest) of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all p ...

include many atolls, and reefs. Due to Hawaii's isolation 30% of the fish are endemic (unique to the island chain). In total the Hawaiian Islands comprise a total of 137 islands and atolls, with a total land area of . This archipelago and its oceans are physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania. The climate of Hawaii is typical for a tropical area, although temperatures and humidity tend to be a bit less extreme than other tropical locales due to the constant trade winds blowing from the east. The surrounding waters are affected by effluents generated and released from the islands themselves. Floating plastic garbage is a problem, and refuse from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch affects its beaches. Other pressures on Hawaii's fish population are its fishing industries and whaling until IWC's moratorium in 1986. In the last century, some commercially fished stocks have decreased by 80-85%. Due to its isolation, very few native freshwater fish species are found in Hawaii, and none are entirely restricted to freshwater (all are either

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...

, or also found in brackish and marine water in their adult stage). The seven native fish species regularly seen in fresh water are the flagtail ''

Kuhlia xenura ''Kuhlia xenura'', the strange-tailed flagtail or Hawaii flagtail, is a species of ray-finned fish, a flagtail from the family Kuhliidae which is endemic to Hawaii, where it occurs in fresh, brackish, and marine waters. It can be found in tide p ...

'', the mullet ''

Mugil cephalus The flathead grey mullet (''Mugil cephalus'') is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically . It is known with numerous English names, ...

'', the gobies ''

Awaous stamineus ''Awaous stamineus'', commonly known as ‘O‘opu nakea, is a species of goby native to the Hawaiian Islands. It has been previously considered a synonym of '' Awaous guamensis'' but recent work based upon morphological and genetic differences h ...

'', ''

Lentipes concolor The Hawaiian freshwater goby, or ‘O‘opu (''Lentipes concolor)'' (''‘o‘opu ‘alamo‘o ''or ''‘o‘opu hi‘u koleis''), is a species of goby endemic to Hawaii, where it occurs in mountain streams. Males of this species can reach a st ...

'', ''

Sicyopterus stimpsoni ''Sicyopterus stimpsoni'', commonly known as the Nopoli rockclimbing goby, oopu nopili, or Stimpson's goby, is a species of amphidromous goby endemic to Hawaii. This species can reach a length of SL. Ecology Juveniles move from saltwater to f ...

'' and ''

Stenogobius hawaiiensis ''Stenogobius hawaiiensis'', the Naniha goby, is a species of goby endemic to the Hawaiian Islands where it can be found in marine, brackish and fresh waters. This species is not as adept a climber as are many other Hawaiian gobies and thus is ...

'', and the sleeper goby ''

Eleotris sandwicensis ''Eleotris sandwicensis'', the Sandwich Island sleeper, Hawaiian sleeper or oopu, is a species of fish in the family Eleotridae endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, where it can be found in marine, fresh, and brackish waters around the coast. Due to ...

''.McRae, McRae, and Fitzsimons (2011). ''Habitats used by Juvenile Flagtails (Kuhlia spp.; Perciformes: Kuhliidae) on the Island of Hawai'i.'' Pacific Science 65(4): 441-450Fitzsimons; and McRae (2007) ''Behavioral Ecology of Indigenous Stream Fishes in Hawai‘i.'' Environmental Studies 3: 11–21. Three of the gobies, ''A. stamineus'', ''L. concolor'' and ''S. stimpsoni'', are famous for their ability to climb waterfalls to reach higher sections of freshwater streams. Several other species have been introduced to the freshwater habitats of Hawaii and some of these are

invasive Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...

Species of fish

Images

File:Oeufs002b,57.png, Egg of Lamprey File:Zebrasoma veliferum.JPG, A

Sailfin tang The sailfin tang (''Zebrasoma velifer'') is a marine reef tang in the fish family Acanthuridae. They may live at water depths of 1 - 60 m (3 - 200 ft) or more. The fish grow to a maximum length of 40 cm (15.8 in). It has an extensive range ...

, a brown fish with five vertical white stripes, a blue spot on the caudal fin, and yellow fins File:Yellowsaddle goatfish parupeneus cyclostomus.JPG, A green

Moana kali ''Parupeneus cyclostomus'', the gold-saddle goatfish, blue goatfish or yellowsaddle goatfish, is a species of goatfish native to the Indo-Pacific. It is a commercial fisheries, commercially important species, as well as being sought out as a gam ...

fish on a light blue background File:Ctenochaetus strigosus 1.jpg, A Yellow-eyed surgeon, a brown and white fish with a bright yellow eye File:Sunfish2.jpg, Ocean sunfish File:Surgeonfish.jpg, An Orangeband surgeonfish, a light grey fish with a dark grey back half, an orange stripe running from just below the eye past the ventral fins, and stopping just before the fish's dorsal fin. This fish has a very heavily lyre-shaped tail File:Acanthurus achilles1.jpg, An

Achilles tang ''Acanthurus achilles'', commonly known as Achilles tang or Achilles surgeonfish, is a tropical marine fish native to the Pacific Ocean. Description They are a medium surgeonfish reaching a maximum of at adulthood. ''Acanthurus achilles'' are b ...

, a black, lyre-tailed fish with an orange spot just before the caudal peduncle, black dorsal and anal fins with an orange stripe marking the boundary between fin and body. The tail is orange and white File:Acanthurus dussumieri.jpg, Dussumier's surgeon, a grey fish with a blue lyre-tail and a white spot on the caudal peduncle. File:Lutjanus kasmira.jpg, A Blue striped snapper, a neon green fish with four horizontal neon blue stripes running the length of its body File:Parrotfish turquoisse.jpg, A Parrotfish is a large, dark blue fish with a light blue underbelly and a protruding forehead File:Pterapogon kauderni.jpg, A

Cardinal fish Cardinalfishes are a family, Apogonidae, of ray-finned fishes found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans; they are chiefly marine, but some species are found in brackish water and a few (notably ''Glossamia'') are found in fresh water. A h ...

, a brown fish with three vertical black stripes, black outlining on the caudal fin and caudal peduncle, and covered in white spots. File:Yellowsaddle goatfish parupeneus cyclostomus.JPG,

File:Surgeonfish.jpg,

Orange spot wrasse ''Acanthurus olivaceus'', also known as the orange-band surgeonfish, the orange-shoulder surgeonfish or the orangebar tang, is a member of the family (biology), family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes. It lives in the tropical waters of the Indo ...

File:Acanthurus achilles1.jpg,

File:Parrotfish turquoisse.jpg, Parrotfish File:Pterapogon kauderni.jpg,

References

External links

huiwaa.org
{{Hawaii Fish Hawaii

Species of fish

Images

References

Further reading

External links