THE AXLMAL LIFP] OP THE GROUP. 2>7Z 



stiince on the eliin. These they employ for feelers, using them to stir up the 

 saiid on the bottom, as they search for the small animals upon which they feed. 

 Their scales are large and thin, and the fish are all bright-colored, usually red 

 or red and golden. About a dozen and a half of closely-related species are 

 found in the ocean about Hawaii. These are divided among three important 

 genera. Weke is the name applied by the Hawaiians to a number of the 

 species. The name is also used in combination with more specific descriptive 

 terms, so that weke or weke ula ■'''■* is specifically applied to the bright red-col- 

 ored surmullet of which enormous quantities are annually marketed in the 

 islands. In the Aquarium they attract much attention as they swim along 

 carrying their chin barbules extended in advance of them, cautiously feeling 

 their way as they go. 



The goat-fish proper "" are represented by the moano,''' the munu '■- and 

 the kumu,"-'' all of which are highly-colored common species. 



SWDRDFISU. 



Occasionally a swordfish '■' is taken b\- the Hawaiian fishermen, and in 

 this way reaches the market under the luime a'u. They are fishes of great 

 size, with the upper jaw prolonged to form a "sword," which is Hattened hori- 

 zontally. So far as is known, the family "'' is represented by a single species 

 of wo)'ld-wide distribution. They are mainly pelagic in their habits and are 

 among the most predaceous and savage of the monsters of the deep. They not 

 only transfix their ordinary prey with their formidable sword, but use it in a 

 merciless attack on whales, which, from repeated stabs, often succumb. 



Occasionally this pugnacious fish mistakes a ship's hull for an enemy and 

 charges it, sending its SAVord crashing through several inches of timber. On 

 one occasion the writer photographed a swordfish bill that had been ranuued 

 through the stern sheets of a small deep-sea-going craft. The vessel had been 

 hauled out of the water for repairs in Honolulu harbor, when, to the surprise 

 of the ship's master, the beaks of the swordfish were foi;nd driven deep into 

 fhe hull, one of them piercing the solid jiine shell to a deiath of twelve inches. 

 While swordfish are usually four to si.\ feet in length, they may measure 

 twelve or fifteen feet and have a sword a yai'd in length. The largest animals 

 sometimes weigh as much as 600 poiuids oi' more. The flesh of the swordfish 

 is I'ed in color and rich in flavor, aiul is everywhere prized as delicious food. 



The trigger-fish*"' are rather large-size shore fishes that are partly herbiv- 

 orous and partly carnivorous in habit. They are rarely used as food, and 

 some of them are reputed by the natives to be poisonous. They are remarkable 

 and interesting in that the first dorsal fin is composed of a short, stout rouuh 

 spine with a smaller one behind it, and usually a third so placed that, liy 

 touching it, the first spine may be I'igidly set or easily released, when it folds 



'''* Mitlloides aurifiamma. "^ Pseudupeneutt si>j». "' I'sfudtipeneus muHifasciatvs. 



^- Pseudupfneus hifasHatus. ^^ Pseudupeneus iiin-iilnir>'iiit. '^* Xiphias ffladius. '''^ Xiphiida'. 



