Back about 200 years ago a British explorer was in India to describe some new species of butterflies. But they were not called butterflies back then! Their real name was “flutter by.” That is because they would just flutter by your head on a nice, bright, sunny day! But somewhere at a later date by the time the discoveries made it back to Europe someone got the name mixed up and called them butterflies. They surely do not look like butter flying by.
The Hawaiians had a simple solution about naming the marine life they lived with on a daily basis. The names of Hawaiian fish describe something important about the fish and its connection to the sea and land. Some of the “butterflyfish” or “flutterbyfish” are called lauhau because they look like the leaf or flower of the hau bush!
Some of the tangs like the yellow tang are called lau ‘ipala which means “looks like a yellow leaf.” But the ornate butterflyfish has a very important Hawaiian name because it is a very important fish!
Kikakapu means “bad no no” or “very prohibited.” This is because the Hawaiians knew that this fish should not be killed or eaten! Old Hawaiian law (kapu) forbade anyone from catching this fish unless it was used in a sacred ceremony.
The ornate butterflyfish eats live coral. These fish usually travel in pairs and graze on the live coral, specializing on patches of sick coral.
By eating the sick, dying coral polyps, this makes room for new, healthy coral, just like the sharks eat sick and dying fish to make room for new, healthy fish.
If one removed all of the butterflyfish off of the reef the coral would not be cleaned and would eventually die! It is hard to tell the difference between the male and female ornate butterflyfish, and each pair seems to have its own territory on the reef, chasing off others of its own kind but allowing different species to remain. This fish is very thin so it can zoom through the reef and branching coral if it is chased by a predator that wants to eat it.
At night time the pairs separate and sleep in a crack in the reef motionless by themselves, then pair back up in the morning! If you are fishing it is important to make sure and not catch the butterflyfish, as it is not only a violation of Hawaiian culture but a violation of the coral reef, which needs these beautiful fish to live in balance and harmony!
You can see movies of our Hawaiian butterflyfish up on my web at www.underwater2web.com, in my educational video called “The World’s Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fish.”
Aloha from below the waves!
•••
Terry Lilley is a marine biologist and Hanalei resident. His websites include underwater2web.com and gofundme.com/5urrm4zw
