This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 12:57 pm and is filed under About, Adventure Cruises, Information, Sites, Snorkeling, Snuba. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Photo Courtesy Dr. Jack Randall
Although Hawaii does not have the deadly stonefish, we do have this little endemic cutie, the turkeyfish. Ancient Hawaiians called this one nohu pinao. The word pinao means blurred vision, and nohu is the Tahitian name for the deadly stonefish. It is possible the ancient travelers, not finding the stonefish here, used the same name for the others in the scorpion family. Blurred vision could possibly be what one experiences as one of the side effects after having contact with this interesting predator.
The turkeyfish is not to be confused with the lionfish. Although both are in the scorpionfish family, they are two distinctly different species. The venom is in the dorsal and pectoral spines. Turkeyfish are late afternoon, or nighttime predators. Their favorite foods are crustaceans and smaller fish, which they ambush and take in with lightening speed. The maximum size for these beautiful animals is 22 centimeters (8.5 inches approx.). There are animals who eat these venomous fish. Other scorpionfish have been observed taking them in and eels have also be seen dragging a scorpionfish around. Tiger sharks have also been witnessed eating members of the scorpionfish family.
Divers are fully aware to be extremely cautious of hand placement on the reefs or rocky ledges, but scorpionfish can also inhabit lagoons and are ingenious at hiding and camoflague.
Snorkeling in Hawaii is truly amazing. Interesting fish await around each coral community, and they do people watch! Come and join us!
