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 species 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 Chaetodon auriga Threadfin butterflyfish
Chaetodon ephippium Saddle butterflyfish
Chaetodon fremblii Bluestriped butterflyfish Chaetodontidae 13 Chaetodon lunulatus Oval butterflyfish
Chaetodon miliaris Millet butterflyfish
Chaetodon multicinctus Pebbled butterflyfish Chaetodontidae 14 Chaetodon ornatissimus Ornate butterflyfish
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 dorsal fin 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 wrasse 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 Thalassoma ballieui Old woman wrasse
Thalassoma duperrey Saddle wrasse
Juveniles
Adults Labridae 26 Thalassoma purpureum Surge wrasse Distinguished from T. trilobatum by the V-shaped pattern on the snout
Female
Transition into male
Thalassoma trilobatum Christmas wrasse
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.fishbase.org http://www.marinelifephotography.com/fishes/fishes.htm