358 NATURAL HISTORY OP HAWAII. 



mens fourteen inches in length are sometimes caught, and as their "wings" 

 are ahnost as long as the body and are beautifully colored with blue and 

 brownish-red, they are with reason pronounced by many as the most striking 

 and fantastic of the Hawaiian fishes. 



Headfish. 



The headfish,-" though much rarer, is equally striking and has been 

 classed among the rarest and most wonderful of all animal forms. To the 

 natives it is known as the apahu, or to some as the makua. It appears simply 

 as a large head separated from the body and supplied with a fringed tail. 

 They are fishes of the open sea and reach a very large size. As the flesh is 

 coarse and tough, they are rarely brought into market except as curiosities. 

 The cast of a very large specimen is on exhibition in the Bishop ^luseum. It 

 shows the beautiful coloring of brown and silver of the living fish. 



The headfish is known to the Haw^aiian fisherman as the "king of all the 

 mackerel," and as it is supposed to be under the rule of the spirits,-" it is 

 feared that the mackerel will disappear if the fish is killed. A similar fish in 

 the Atlantic is known as the king of the herring, and the local superstition is 

 doubtless colored by the influence of the early whalers and traders that called 

 at the islands. 



Curious fish known as the half-bills -^ are very common in the markets, 

 where all three of the species that occur here may be recognized at once by the 

 fact that the under jaw is singularly bill-shaped, while the upper jaw is 

 normal. Of the three species, the iheihe or me-me'e--' is the most abundant 

 They are oviparous fishes and feed on green algte. The half-bills live in large 

 schools, usually near shore, and are especially numerous in the channels about 

 the islands. 



H.vwAiiAN Herring. 



The makiawa,^" so far as is known, is the only representative of the great 

 herring tribe ^^ to be found about Hawaii. It attains a length of about ten 

 inches and is (init(^ common in the market at certain seasons. It is easily 

 identified by its herring-like shape and appearance. 



The family KuJdiidce is conspicuously represented in Hawaii by the ahole- 

 hole,^^ a silvery, fish-shaped fish, with the edge of the first dorsal and the 

 caudal fins narrowly edged with black. They attain a length of ten inches 

 or more. This active fish is sure to attract notice, since it is common at the 

 mouths of the Hawaiian streams in both brackish and fresh water, but dwells 

 by preference in running water, where it may be found in the deeper pools. 

 It is a good fish and takes the hook readily, resembling the fresh-water sun-fish 

 of America in this regard. The natives sometimes capture them by use of the 

 narcotic plant described elsewhere. 



-'^ Ratizania inokiin. -' Akua. "^ Hemiramphid/e. -^ Heinireiiiiiihiis (lepaiiperotiis. 



^^ Etimneiis iiricropiix, ^^ Clupeida;. ^- Kuhlia malo. 



