The reef triggerfish (''Rhinecanthus rectangulus''), also known as the rectangular triggerfish, wedgetail triggerfish or by its
Hawaiian name humuhumunukunukuāpuaa (, meaning 'triggerfish with a snout like a pig', also spelled humuhumunukunukuapua'a or just humuhumu for short), is one of several
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
of
triggerfish. It is found at reefs in the
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth.
In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
and is the state fish of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
.
The name humuhumunukunukuāpuaa serves for both singular and plural descriptions. The fish shares its Hawaiian name with the
lagoon triggerfish (''R. aculeatus''), another fish also found in the Indo-Pacific.
Description
The triggerfish's teeth and top lip are blue and the teeth are set close together inside its relatively plump mouth.
It has a small second dorsal spine which is used to lock its main spine into an upright position. When sheltering in a small crevice, this locking of its spine helps protect the fish against being extracted by a predator. When fleeing from predators, it sometimes makes grunting noises, possibly to warn other nearby triggerfish.
The triggerfish can blow jets of water from its mouth to help it find
benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...
invertebrates buried under the substrate. It can often be seen spitting sand from its mouth to sift through the material for edible detritus or organisms.
Reef triggers, up to in length, are fairly aggressive and generally do not tolerate conspecific individuals in their general vicinity; thus the fish is often solitary. This is particularly true in captivity. They have the ability to rapidly alter their coloration. They can fade into a relatively drab appearance when sleeping or demonstrating submission, while their coloration is often the most vivid when they are healthy and unthreatened by their surroundings. They have also been known to bite and attack swimmers in their area, often around the ankle, sometimes leaving marks.
File:Wedgetail Triggerfish, juvenile - Rhinecanthus rectangulus (10913246303).jpg, Juvenile reef triggerfish
File:Reef Triggerfish.JPG, Adult in Hāʻena State Park
File:Reef trigger fish. (11111536093).jpg, The lagoon triggerfish, which shares the Hawaiian name ''humuhumunukunukuapuaa'' with the reef triggerfish.
Hawaii state fish
The reef triggerfish was originally designated the official fish of Hawaii in 1985, but due to an expiration of a Hawaiian state law after five years, it ceased to be the
state fish in 1990. On April 17, 2006, bill HB1982 was presented to the
Governor of Hawaii
The governor of Hawaii ( haw, Ke Kiaʻaina o Hawaiʻi) is the head of government of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 through 6. It is a direct ...
, which permanently reinstated the reef triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuāpuaa) as the state fish of Hawaii. The bill passed into law on May 2, 2006, and was effective upon its approval.
Hawaii may honor long-named fish - Weird news
NBC News (2006-04-18). Retrieved on 2015-05-18.
Decades prior to official recognition, humuhumunukunukuāpuaa were considered a symbol of Hawai'i. The song '' My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii'' includes the line " . . .where the humuhumunukunukuāpuaa go swimming by . . ."
It is also featured prominently in the Disney Channel Original Movie ''High School Musical 2'' with a song of the same name.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q669512
reef triggerfish
Fish of the Pacific Ocean
Fish of Hawaii
Fish of the Indian Ocean
Symbols of Hawaii
reef triggerfish