354 NATURAL lllSTOKY OF HAWAII. 



T^oxE-Fisii, Catalukas and Cirrhitid,?':. 



The hoiie-lisli. or lady-tish/ luive a sin^ie representative in Hawaii kiinwii 

 as the oio.'^ It is a silvery fish with soft flesh that resembles the milk-fish in 

 some respects, but is distinguished by its swine-like snout. 



The Catalufas " are represented by but a single genus of three species. 

 One of these, the aweoweo,'" is the famous "red fish" which during the month 

 of September, 1873, entered Honolulu harbor in shoals. They were evidently 

 young fish, as the largest were not more than three and a half inches long. 

 This shoaling has occurred from time to time at irregular intervals. In the 

 mind of the native the coming of the red fish presages the sickness and death 

 of some member of the royal family. On several occasions there has been a 

 singular sequence of events of this nature which has left its impress on the 

 beliefs of the more superstitious among the people. The fish are esteemed as food 

 by the natives, however, who regard their coming in large numbers in the 

 nature of a windfall, as the fish can be readily dried and saved. The species 

 is of wide distribution and among English-speaking people is known as the 

 "big eye." 



The family Cirrliitida includes among its number seven oi the more beau- 

 tiful and highl\-colored fishes of the coral reef, and as they are almost con- 

 stantly til be seen in the market and at the Aquarium, the pilikoa,'' hilu pili- 

 koM '- anil piiikii 'a '" are well known, though they are seldom more than six 

 inches in length. 



Deep-Sea Fishes. 



The fishes of the tleep sea are for the most part examples of the familiar 

 forms that have become modified and specialized to suit the peculiar environ- 

 ment of great pressvire, inky blackness and freezing cold w'hich the bottom of 

 the sea affords. Eels, soles, scorpion fish, box fish and dozens of other forms 

 found commonly on our shores have their deep-sea representatives that are 

 seldom seen by other than experts to whom are sent the ran' examples, 

 secured at great cost and labor by scientific deep-sea expeditions. We there- 

 fore conlnit ourselves with the knowledge that they exist and confine our at- 

 tention to till' more common, if not the more interesting, species that are met 

 with in the markets almost daily. 



The Dommhx. 



The ilolpliin •' imahihil is an im])i)r1aii1 i'liod fish in Hawaii. The limly is 

 elongate. i-omp]'essi'il anil i-overi'il with \rry tine scales. The uiidei- .jaw pro- 

 trudes and the lung low dorsal tin exti'uds from the nape to the base of the 



tail. It is I'hangealile in eoloi- ami thus In mes a eonsiiieuous fish either 



living or dead, lint unfortunately its lieauliful color rapidl>" ehaiiLjes after 

 death. Thev ;ittain the lenuth of foui' to six feet. 



