Ghost Prawns (Sob-Family Luciferinae) in Hawaii 
Robert W. Hiatt 1 
Specimens of the ghost prawn, Lucifer 
faxonii Borradaile, have been found to con¬ 
stitute a significant item of the diet of the 
local baitfish "nehu,” Anchoviella purpurea 
(Fowler). The prawn was especially abun¬ 
dant in nehu taken from the Ala Wai Canal 
in Honolulu and less abundant in nehu 
caught in a fish pond supplied with tidal 
water from the West Loch of Pearl Harbor. 
Plankton tows subsequently made in these 
localities showed the prawn to be very abun¬ 
dant in the Ala Wai Canal from January 
to August and to be less abundant during 
this period in Pearl Harbor. Plankton tows 
also disclosed the presence of very small 
numbers of this species (8 specimens in 
6,700 gallons of water strained in June) in 
fish ponds on the leeward shore of the island 
of Molokai. 
These findings represent the first records 
for this species in the Hawaiian Archipelago 
and the first record for the sub-family Luci¬ 
ferinae since Bate (1888: 468) cited Hawaii 
as a locality in which L. typus H. Milne- 
Edwards ( = L. reynaudii Bate) was col¬ 
lected by members of the '’Challenger” Ex¬ 
pedition. The name reynaudii applied to the 
Hawaiian specimens by Bate has been con¬ 
signed by Hansen (1919: 49), with some 
reservation, to the synonomy of L. typus H. 
Milne-Edwards because these specimens fall 
within the known range of variation for the 
latter species. Thus, it is probable that two 
of the six recognized species of this ano¬ 
malous and widely distributed group reside 
in Hawaiian waters. 
1 Department of Zoology and Entomology, Uni¬ 
versity of Hawaii. Manuscript received February 
6, 1947. 
Only two other authenticated records, one 
for each species mentioned above, are known 
for the Central Pacific area. Edmondson 
(1923: 35) collected two specimens which 
he designated as L. reynaudii H. Milne- 
Edwards from surface tows in the lagoon 
at Fanning Island, about 1,400 miles south 
of Oahu. Upon re-examining the speci¬ 
mens, Edmondson (1925: 5) corrected his 
earlier identification, and referred them to 
L. faxonii Borradaile. These specimens have 
been rechecked recently and compared to the 
specimens taken in the Ala Wai Canal, and 
are undoubtedly faxonii. All the known 
records for this species in the Central Pacific 
were of specimens collected from waters 
less saline than ocean water, and those for 
Hawaii were obtained from specimens col¬ 
lected from brackish, estuarine localities. 
However, records elsewhere (Hansen, 1919: 
63) indicate that this species is pelagic as 
well as an inshore inhabitant. L. faxonii is 
widespread in the waters about the Nether¬ 
lands Indies and the West Indies, and in the 
middle Atlantic from latitude 33° N. to 
latitude 23° S. 
L. typus ( = L. reynaudii Bate) was taken 
in Hawaii at an undisclosed location by mem¬ 
bers of the "Challenger” Expedition, and 
Edmondson {doc. cit. ) collected 1 male and 
10 female specimens in a surface tow at night 
a few miles southwest of Wake Island, about 
2,000 miles west and north of Oahu. These 
specimens have been checked and the male 
is undoubtedly typus, as evidenced by the 
long eyestalks, the position of the posterior 
margin of the large ventral protuberance on 
the telson, and the character of the petasma. 
However, all the females are immature; 
241 
