FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72. NO. 4 



UPPER 



1 mm 



1 mm 



LOWER 







"AV^ 







Figure 27. — Dentition of: a, Forcipiger longirostris; b, F. flavissimus. 



♦the outer drop-off at Puuhonua Point, Honaunau. 

 During the day it is active in large aggregations 

 high in the water column, but at nightfall de- 

 scends to the reef and remains close among cover 

 until morning. 



Of the 11 specimens (167: 127-185 mm) col- 

 lected, all 5 that were taken from under cover on 

 the reef at night (between 4 h after sunset and 



daybreak) had empty guts, whereas all 6 taken 

 during afternoons from aggregations in mid- 

 water were full of food, as listed in Table 29. 



I saw no evidence of benthic feeding by this fish. 

 The circumstance that various planktonic 

 copepods made up over 8&7c of its diet indicates 

 that H. thompsoni is a more specialized feeder 

 than its congener H. zoster below. 



Table 29. — Food of Hemitaurichthys thompsoni. 



Rank 



Items 



Calanoid copepods 



Also, unidentified fragments 



81 9 



81 90 



968 



