This entry was posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 at 3:22 pm and is filed under About, Adventure Cruises, History, 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
In ancient Hawaii, and even now, these fish were an important food source. In Hawaiian the achilles tang, a surgeon fish, is called pâku’i'ku’i. As a reef fish who eats mostly algae, these fish were caught in nets, which were laid and the surface of the water was beaten to drive the fish in the right direction.
If you look closely to the above photo, you can see the horizontal blade at the tip of the orange spot where the tail begins. These blades are ’scalpel’ sharp, hence the family name of surgeon fish. With this particular species the spine may be venomous. One way to remember the name of achilles tang is to imagine stepping into orange paint, and using your achilles tendon, place your heel on the base of the fish leaving the round spot. When these fish are juveniles they do not have this spot, says Dr. Randall. This species is seen from Baja California to the Mariana Islands. They prefer the meaty algae, according to researchers, and are also seen in lagoons.
When snorkeling in Hawaiian waters you are sure to see these fish as they are quite plentiful. Their eyes are truly beautiful. They have also been observed doing people watching, so make sure to bring your camera! See you soon.
