Public interest is growing over the photo of a rare ‘Apahu fish published in The Garden Island’s sports page last week. Mitsuo Ho’okano of Waimea recently found one of the rare ‘Apahu fish washed up on the shore near the
Public interest is growing over the photo of a rare ‘Apahu fish published in The Garden Island’s sports page last week.
Mitsuo Ho’okano of Waimea recently found one of the rare ‘Apahu fish washed up on the shore near the Waimea Landing and mailed the photo to TGI.
Subsequently, several local fishermen have contacted the newspaper with reports of catching an ‘Apahu while fishing offshore of Kaua’i.
One report came from Hanapepe and one from Hanama’ulu. Lihue Fishing Supply called and provided the photo accompanying this article taken by fishing captain Conrad Schwarze.
Mitsuo followed up with a letter she received from Arnold Suzumoto, Collections Manager-Ichthyology at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
The Bishop Museum fish expert identified Mitsuo’s photograph as a Ranzani laevis.
“In our time, we have seen many amazing fishes, and yours is certainly one of our favorites,” he wrote.
“Known as the Slender Ocean Sunfish (or Truncated Sunfish, Ranzania laevis – its current scientific name – but also Ranzania makua, Ranzania truncata, and other names), this fish is related to the true Ocean Sunfish, the Mola mola, known to reach an enormous size (over 10 feet). Your ‘Apahu seems to be a young adult; I have seen others about this size, and I’ve seen several smaller (3 to 5 inches – juveniles). Some books say it can reach 3 feet in length (I’ve never seen one that big, but I don’t doubt it). Unfortunately, not much is known about the sunfishes, except that they live in offshore waters, probably feeding on jellyfishes and other plankton near the surface.
“The museum has several specimens of this fish collected over the years, from the 1930s through the 1990s, so they do turn up occasionally. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of the one caught by your brother and his friend.”
Enclosed in the letter was information culled from Spencer Tinker’s classic book on Hawaiian fishes, “Fishes of Hawaii.” Tinker, who passed away recently and was well known for his work at the Waikiki Aquarium, named the fish “The Smooth Sun Fish or Truncated Sun Fish.” He wrote that common names for the fish include: Makua, Kunehi, ‘Apahu, and King of the Mackerels. The fish was apparently recorded for western science in 1776. The distribution is worldwide in warm water. “It occurs in all temperate and tropical seas, but it is nowhere common,” Tinker wrote.
