DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES OF FISHES FROM THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 
BELONGING TO THE FAMILIES OF LAB RIDE AND SCARIDSE. 
By OLIVER P. JENKINS, 
Professor of Physiology, Leland Stanford Junior University. 
Tlie fishes here described are part of three collections from the Hawaiian Islands. 
The largest collection, containing over 200 species, was made by me in 1889 under 
the generous auspices of De Pauw University. The second, of about 45 species, w;is 
obtained, under the direction of Dr. David Starr Jordan, by the United States Fish 
Commission steamer Albatross in 189G, on the return of the vessel from the work of the 
Fur Seal Commission of Investigation. The third contained some 80 species, and was 
made by Dr. Thomas Denison Wood, of Stanford University, in 1898, for the museum 
of the university. To this a small but valuable collection was added by his brother, 
Mr. A. B. Wood, of Honolulu, in 1899. A fuller account of these collections will 
appear in a subsequent paper. Of the 22 new species here described, 17 were first 
obtained by me in 1889 and 5 were first seen in Dr. Wood’s collection. 
With but one exception the fishes collected by me were examined in a fresh state 
and careful notes of the color were taken. Of the 5 from the collection made by Dr. 
Wood, all were seen after they had been in formalin for some weeks. While the 
markings were fairly well preserved, and in some cases brilliant coloration still remained, 
still the quickness with which the colors of these groups fade or change makes definite 
statements of color of these 5 species impossible. 
In all 42 species of labroids and scaroids were obtained. The large percentage 
of these that appear to be new would indicate that these islands and their neighbors 
lying west and south form a most interesting field for the study of these forms. While 
this fauna has already received the attention of Bleeker, Gunther (on Garrett's col 
lections and drawings), Steindachner, and other ichthyologists, our knowledge of it is 
only in its beginning. 
The fishes of these groups were mainly obtained from the market in Honolulu, 
which is supplied by the native fishermen. The species are all valued highly by the 
native Hawaiians as food, the scaroids especially so. Some small specimens of the 
latter bring large prices. They are eaten raw by the natives, as are most of the other 
fishes, cooking being regarded as especially inimical to the food qualities of a scaroid. 
The Honolulu fish-market is the richest source of the collector’s material. Fishermen, 
who know the habits aud haunts of these fishes, and who have great skill in catching 
them, are urged to bring them here by the high price and ready sale of these forms. 
The types of these species are deposited in the museum of Leland Stanford Junior 
University. Series more or less complete are also placed in the De Pauw University 
museum, the United States Fish Commission, and the United States National Museum. 
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