Fish identification photo guide, Oahu, Hawaii 2016

(work in progress 2016-08-22)

Stina Tano About this guide

Disclaimer First of all, this document is by no means perfect- I have spent a lot of time trying to correctly identify the fish herein, but shit happens. Use your own best judgement, and do not hold me responsible for misidentifications. All photos are by S Tano if not stated otherwise.

Please note that all pictures have been edited, and that some of them, despite this, still suck- it happens, get over it. Families found herein:

Acanthuridae (p.1-7) Balistidae (p.8-9) Blennidae (p.10) Carangidae (p.11) Chaetodontidae (p.12-14) Cirrhitidae (p.15) Fistulariidae (p.16) Gobiidae (p.17) Kuhliidae (p.18) Kyphosidae (p.19-20) Labridae (p.21-26) Lutjanidae (p.27) Monacanthidae (p.28) Mugilidae (p.29) Mullidae (p.30-31) Muraenidae (p.32-33) Myliobatidae (p.34) Ostraciidae (p.35) Pomacentridae (p.36-38) Scaridae (p.39-42) Serranidae (p.43) Syngnathidae (p.44) Tetraodontidae (p.45-46) Zanclidae (p.47) Acanthuridae 1 Acanthurus achilles Achilles tang

Acanthurus blochii Ringtail surgeonfish Separates from A. xanthopterus by having a long (horizontally long) dark spine, white band on tail and yellow spot behind eye.

Juvenile

Acanthurus dussumieri Eyestripe surgeonfish Acanthuridae 2 Acanthurus guttatus Whitespotted surgeonfish

Acanthurus leucopareius Whitebar surgeonfish

Acanthurus nigrofuscus Brown surgeonfish/ Lavender tang Acanthuridae 3 Acanthurus nigroris Bluelined surgeonfish

Acanthurus olivaceus Orangespot surgeonfish Acanthuridae 4 Acanthurus triostegus Convict surgeonfish

Acanthurus xanthopterus Yellowfin surgeonfish

Small (short in length horizontally) dark spine, yellow pectoral fins and yellow mask over eyes. Acanthuridae 5 Ctenochaetus strigosus Spotted surgeonfish/ goldring surgeonfish

Naso lituratus Orangespine unicornfish Acanthuridae 6 Naso unicornis Bluespine unicornfish

Juveniles

Zebrasoma flavescens Yellow tang

Juvenile Acanthuridae 7 Zebrasoma velifer Sailfin tang From small juvenile (top left) to adult (right column) Balistidae 8 Melichthys niger Black triggerfish

Melichthys vidua Pinktail triggerfish

Rhinecanthus aculeatus White-banded triggerfish

Rhinecanthus rectangulus Wedge-tail triggerfish Balistidae 9 Sufflamen bursa Boomerang triggerfish Blenniidae 10 Blenniella gibbifrons Hump-headed blenny

Cirripectes vanderbilti Scarface blenny

Istiblennius zebra Zebra blenny Carangidae 11 Carangoides orthogrammus Island trevally

Caranx ignobilis Giant trevally

Caranx melampygus Bluefin trevally Chaetodontidae 12 auriga Threadfin

Chaetodon ephippium Saddle butterflyfish

Chaetodon fremblii Bluestriped butterflyfish Chaetodontidae 13 Chaetodon lunulatus

Chaetodon miliaris Millet butterflyfish

Chaetodon multicinctus Pebbled butterflyfish Chaetodontidae 14 Chaetodon ornatissimus

Chaetodon quadrimaculatus Fourspot butterflyfish

Chaetodon unimaculatus Teardrop butterflyfish

Forcipiger flavissimus Longnose butterflyfish Cirrhitidae 15 Cirrhitus pinnulatus Stocky hawkfish

Paracirrhites forsteri Blackside hawkfish Fistulariidae 16 Fistularia commersonii Bluespotted cornetfish Gobiidae 17 Asterropteryx semipunctatus Starry goby

Gnatholepis anjerensis Eye-bar goby

Psilogobius mainlandi Mainland’s goby Kuhliidae 18 Kuhlia sandvicensis Hawaiian flagtail Kyphosidae 19 Kyphosus cinerascens Blue sea chub Straight line between and anal fin.

Kyphosus hawaiiensis Hawaiian chub May or may not have broad light band, but has a steeper angle of fin than K. sandwicensis.

Kyphosus sandwicensis Pacific chub Close angle between anal fin and top of caudal fin. White stripe along dorsal fin seems common. Dominant males (below) can have spots. Kyphosidae 20 Kyphosus vaigiensis Brassy chub Photo by Elisa Alonso Aller Angle of anal fin matches with top of caudal fin. Edge of operculum yellow, and yellowish stripes along body (which may be hard to see). Labridae 21 Anampses cuvier Pearl Male

Female Picture by Elisa Alonso Aller

Bodianus albotaeniatus

Juvenile Labridae 22

Cheilio inermis Cigar wrasse

Juvenile Labridae 23 Coris flavovittata Yellowstripe coris Female

Coris venusta Elegant coris Juvenile below

Gomphosus varius Bird wrasse Male

Female

Juvenile (below) Labridae 24 Labroides phthirophagus Hawaiian cleaner wrasse

Stethojulis balteata Belted wrasse

Juveniles

Females

Males Labridae 25 ballieui Old woman wrasse

Thalassoma duperrey Saddle wrasse

Juveniles

Adults Labridae 26 Thalassoma purpureum Distinguished from T. trilobatum by the V-shaped pattern on the snout

Female

Transition into male

Thalassoma trilobatum

Female

Males Lutjanidae 27 Lutjanus fulvus Blacktail snapper Monacanthidae 28 Aluterus scriptus Scribbled leatherjacket filefish

Cantherhines dumerilii Whitespotted filefish Mugilidae 29 Neomyxus leuciscus Acute-jawed mullet Mullidae 30 Mullodichthys flavolineatus Yellowstripe goatfish

Mulloidichthys vanicolensis Yellowfin goatfish Mullidae 31 Parupeneus cyclostomus Gold-saddle goatfish

Parupeneus insularis Twosaddle goatfish

Parupeneus multifasciatus Manybar goatfish Muraenidae 32 Echidna nebulosa Starry moray

Echidna polyzona Barred moray

Gymnomuraena zebra Zebra moray Muraenidae 33 Gymnothorax eurostus Abbott’s moray eel

Gymnothorax meleagris Turkey moray Myliobatidae 34 Aetobatus narinari Spotted eagle ray Ostraciidae 35 Ostracion meleagris Whitespotted boxfish Female

Male Pomacentridae 36 Abudefduf abdominalis Green damselfish

Abudefduf sordidus Blackspot sergeant Male courtship colouration Pomacentridae 37 Abudefduf vaigiensis Indo-Pacific sergeant

Juvenile

Chromis hanui Chocolate-dip chromis

Dascyllus albisella Hawaiian dascyllus Pomacentridae 38 Plectroglyphidodon imparipennis Brighteye damselfish

Plectroglyphidodon johnstonianus Johnston Island damsel

Stegastes fasciolatus Pacific gregory Scaridae 39 Calotomus carolinus Carolines parrotfish Female

Chlorurus perspicilatus Spectacled parrotfish Female Scaridae 40 Chlorurus spilurus Bullethead parrotfish

Male

Females

Scarus dubius Regal parrotfish Female Scaridae 41 Scarus psittacus Common parrotfish Female

Males Scaridae 42 Scarus rubroviolaceus Ember parrotfish Females

Males Serranidae 43 Cephalopholis argus Peacock hind Syngnathidae 44 Hippocampus kuda Spotted seahorse Tetraodontidae 45 Arothron hispidus White-spotted puffer

Arothron meleagris Guineafowl puffer Tetraodontidae 46 Canthigaster amboinensis Spider-eye puffer

Canthigaster jactator Hawaiian whitespotted toby Zanclidae 47 Zanclus cornutus Moorish idol 48 Identification mainly based on: www..org http://www.marinelifephotography.com/fishes/fishes.htm