This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 11:16 pm and is filed under Snorkeling. 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
What a beautiful little fish! Little, indeed! This endemic (only in Hawaiian waters) fish grows to barely under 5 inches, but for such a little animal, they have a very important job on the reef.
They often will set up a cleaning station and wait for fish to swim down to the reef and posture. Posturing is done in many ways, but usually the fish wanting cleaning will try to hold still, sometimes head down, and flare their gills and rays (fins). The little wrasse will then hurriedly pick off any loose scales and parasitic crustaceans, thereby providing a service of sorts and food for itself. Snorkelers may observe some cleaning stations having quite a line-up of waiting customers. Even eels will patiently wait while this animal swims in and out of the mouth, cleaning around sharp teeth and gums.
These colorful fish will do something really interesting at night. They will encase themselves in a mucous bubble where they will be safe from predation and able to sleep until light. With their bright coloration, which many poisonous fish have, they are not preyed upon by many animals. They swim in a dancing, flitting type of motion making them really fun for divers and snorkelers to watch. Wrasses swim mainly with their pectoral fins, giving a flapping motion that can be quite comical. What may be even more surprising to some is that this family of fish have molariform teeth toward their throat area. This allows the fish to be better able to crush their food, which may also consist of coral polyps, invertebrates and some wrasses in the family eat mollusks!
Wrasses can do something pretty amazing. They can change sex from female to male, as necessary. Many species of wrasse live in a harem, with one male in charge. Should something happen to him, the largest female in the group will absorb her eggs, develop sperm, and change to male. Some researchers believe this may be true for all species of wrasses.
Unfortunately, because they are such a cute little fish, they are prized for aquarium trade, making the species very vulnerable.
The Hawaiians have a beautiful name for this special fish: Hinalea
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Cleaning Stations For Fish | Maui Snorkeling Trips…
My snorkeling adventure was an unforgettable experience because of the great travel package I got from this site. I will definitely treasure my memories in Hawaii for the rest of my life!…