Saddle Wrasse.
Endemic to Hawaiʻi and the most abundant reef fish in the islands. Constantly busy, constantly color-changing.
The saddle wrasse, hīnālea lauwili in Hawaiian, is endemic to Hawaiʻi — found nowhere else in the world. It is also the most abundant fish on Hawaiian reefs, present from the surface down to a hundred feet of water. If you have ever snorkeled in Hawaiʻi, you have almost certainly seen one.
Like most wrasses, hīnālea lauwili are sequential hermaphrodites that begin life as one sex and can transform into the other later. Color and pattern shift dramatically as a fish matures, with a green head and bold orange-red collar band marking adult males.
They are constantly active during daylight, hunting small invertebrates and acting as opportunistic cleaners — picking parasites from larger fish that will hold still for the service. At night, hīnālea lauwili dives into the sand and buries itself completely until sunrise.
More species in this group.
Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
The reef triggerfish — Hawaiʻi's official state fish, with a name that means "fish that sews with a needle and grunts like a pig."
Yellow Tang
The vivid lemon-yellow surgeonfish that flashes through every Hawaiian reef — and one of the most recognizable fish in the world.
Moorish Idol
Iconic black, white and yellow reef fish with a long sweeping dorsal filament — solitary, mysterious, famously hard to keep in captivity.
Raccoon Butterflyfish
Golden butterflyfish with a black bandit's mask. Often paired for life and one of the most common nighttime feeders on the reef.