Hawaiian Fishes 



33 



from the sides of the head and stand up like horns or ears on the creature. 

 The eyes are set on the side of the head and the skin is rough to the touch. 

 The mouth is fairly large and is filled with many small, flat, tubular teeth 

 which are set like pavement and in many series. 



The sea devils are ovo-viviparous and give birth to their young alive. 

 These fishes make exciting hunting and when harpooned will tow small 

 boats with great rapidity. 



Of about seven known species in this family, two have been recorded 

 from the Hawaiian Islands. 



Manta or Hihimanu 



Also known as the Sea Devil, Greater Devil Fish, Giant Devil Fish, 



or Blanket Fish 

 11-1 Manta birostris (Walbaum) 



The manta is reported to reach a width of twenty or twenty-two feet 

 and to weigh as much as 3,000 pounds. The body is nearly twice as wide 

 as it \s long and has a long, whip-like tail which is as long as the body. 

 The body is brown above and white beneath and is reported to get darker 

 with age. The skin is rough because of the tubercles which cover it. The 

 anterior edges of the pectoral fins are 

 elongated to form fleshy, horn-like 

 appendages called cephalic fins which 

 extend forward from the sides of the 

 head. The minute, rasp-like teeth are 

 set in the floor of the mouth in rows 

 which cover the entire width of the 

 jaw. 



Unlike the rays, the devil fish is not 

 a bottom feeder. It lives at the surface 

 of the water where it swims alone, in pairs, or in small schools. They 

 swim with their cephalic fins pointing forward and with their mouths 

 open. They seem to live upon plankton, small surface-living crustaceans, 

 and surface fishes which they strain from the water with a special bran- 

 chial device. 



The young devil fishes are born alive and are thought by some to be 

 born one at a time. A mother devil fish measuring fifteen feet contained 

 a five foot young weighing twenty pounds. 



