224 H aw aiian Fishes 



"Hon. John M. Wilson, Mayor of Honolulu, reports 

 that eating the head of this fish produces a sort of 

 delirium ('Loco'). At one time in Molokai 30 or 40 

 Japanese laborers working for Mr. Wilson ate the 

 heads (with bodies) of many examples and were 

 mentally paralyzed at the time. Mrs. Wilson once 

 attended a function at which this fish was served. All 

 members of the party had weird visions, some of them 

 wandering about the house all night long. It was 

 agreed that 'somebody must have died in that room' — 

 a Hawaiian superstition. It is agreed that the poison 

 lies in the brain." 



THE BLANQUILLO OR WHITEY FISH FAMILY 



99 Family Malacanthidae 



The blanquillos are fishes with slender, elongated bodies and are 

 usually beautifully colored. They are fishes of medium to large size and 

 inhabit the temperate and tropical seas. 



Only two members of this family are known from the Hawaiian 

 Islands. 



Makaa or Ulae Mahimahi 



99-1 Malacanthus hoedtii Bleeker 



Plate III, Figure 11 



Drawn from Jordan b Evermann 



The makaa is a long, slender fish, light olive green in color above 

 and silvery beneath. The sides of the body are marked with about 

 twenty short, faint bands of color which enter the silvery area. The tail 

 is marked with two wide black bands placed one above and one below 

 the middle. The fish reaches a length of one foot. 



The Hawaiians named this fish Makaa or "bright eyes" because of 

 the clear and brilliant eyes of this fish. 



