What Fish Will I See on the Four Winds?

What is Hawaii’s State Fish?
The state fish of Hawaii is the beautiful, colorful Humuhumunukunukuapua’a. The literal meaning in Hawaiian is said to be “triggerfish with a snout like a pig”. This is one of many in the triggerfish family and it is endemic to the salt water coasts of various central and south pacific.
The humuhumu was named the official state fish of Hawaii in 2006. These fish are also known as the rectangular triggerfish, Lagoon triggerfish, Picasso triggerfish, or the Hawaiian triggerfish. They are fun to find on our Maui reefs, with their variety of colors, bright blue lips and yellow stripes. humumu’s are smaller triggerfish and extremely fast, so have your camera ready when you are snorkeling in Maui!
The humuhumu’s teeth are blue and are set close together inside its relatively chubby mouth. Their shape gives them the ability to wedge itself into small crevices and lock its spine, which makes it extremely difficult to get out. Another defense mechanism they have is they can make grunting noises; possibly a call to warn other nearby triggerfish of danger at hand. Should you be lucky enough to see these colorful beauties while snorkeling in Hawaii, observe but always give them their space.
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 some of their food source that may be buried under the sand. The humuhumu can often be seen spitting sand from their mouths in order to sift through the material in search of something to eat. Reef triggers are fairly aggressive and will generally not tolerate other species in its general vicinity, thus the fish is often found solitary. 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.
Keep practicing, it’s a fun one to say once, you’ve got it! Humuhumunukunukuapua’a… Humuhumunukunukuapua’a…