CRITTER: Meet ‘ulae the orangemouth lizard fish
Out on the coral reef fish have to look big and tough so they don’t get eaten by larger predator fish. A small fish can have large sharp teeth to protect itself but those teeth may or may not help them in finding food. There has to be a balance between feeding and protection and ‘ulae the lizard fish has developed a way to have both by developing false teeth.
CRITTER: Meet ‘ako‘ako‘a the Hawaiian Super Coral
In 2012 I shot 100 hours of video of the brown rice corals along the entire Kaua‘i North Shore and was just stunned at the beauty and diversity of this amazing coral species.
CRITTER: Meet puhi lau milo the undulated moray eel
Puhi lau milo is a 4-foot-long, beautiful moray eel that hides in the reef during the day and comes out to feed at night. If you have done a snorkel in Hawai‘i over a shallow lava and coral reef you probably have gone right over one of these morays, as they are quite common but rarely ever seen during the day.
CRITTER: Puhi uha the conger eel hunts with the manta ray
In our ocean it is common for one fish species to hunt with a different species if the outcome is food for the both of them. Roi often hunts with moray eels and papio often hunts with weke, the goatfish. Even large sharks hunt with large barracuda from time to time.
CRITTER: Meet the dangerous Ewa fang blenny
This four inch long skinny fish has a huge smile on its face and looks totally harmless. It swims in open water above the reef and wiggles back and forth like an earthworm crawls and it is one of the most dangerous little fish in Hawaii. The way it feeds is truly amazing and it is rarely ever eaten by larger fish!
CRITTER: Meet the giant broad stingray that killed Steve Irwin
The broad stingray is fairly common in Hawaii but rarely seen by divers and snorkelers because it likes to feed in calm bays where the visibility is not very good.
CRITTER: Meet ulua la‘uli the black jack
Here in the main Hawaiian Islands we often see ‘omilu the bluefin trevally and ulua aukea the giant trevally.
CRITTER: Pohaku puna the mound coral that protects against hurricanes
Pohaku puna is our natural seawall here in Hawai‘i that helps protect our coastline from hurricane damage.
CRITTER: Meet kio the Christmastree worm
Can a worm help save a coral reef? Yes and that is exactly what kio the Christmastree worm does.
CRITTER: Meet pupu leholeho‘oni‘oni‘o, the swollen bubble shell
This beautiful one inch long pink and white marine snail is one of the hardest to find Hawaiian shells.
CRITTER: Meet the upside-down jellyfish
All of us here in Hawaii that like to surf, swim or snorkel will eventually run into a jellyfish and get stung.
CRITTER: Meet Loulu the Scrawled Filefish
Loulu the Scrawled Filefish is a bizarre looking sea creature! It can grow to almost three feet long but it is only 2 inches wide. Its huge tail fin can be a third of its body length and it has a tiny round mouth. Loulu can change colors quickly from green with blue stripes to solid grey.
CRITTER: Meet Paki‘i the Peacock Flounder
Paki‘i is one very strange fish! The Hawaiian name means fallen flat or spread out because they lay flat on the sandy seafloor or flat reef areas.
CRITTER: Zoanthid : The deadly seaweed of Hana
Divers in shallow Hawaiian waters will often notice what looks like a new coral species growing on the reef that they had not seen before.
CRITTER: Meet makaloa the predator Drupe Shell
When you snorkel or dive in Hawaii you will more than likely swim right over several species of drupe shells.
CRITTER: Meet nohu the Leaf Scorpionfish
This four inch slow moving reef fish is almost impossible to see but can cause a powerful venomous sting to a diver if you touch one.
CRITTER: Meet ‘o’ili the Barred Filefish
This gold colored 14 inch fish is one critter you do not want to mess with!
CRITTER: Meet pupu ‘ole the Marlinspike Auger
You can dive in Hawai‘i for 20 years and never see one of these 10 inch long beautiful shells but they are actually very common.
CRITTER: Meet a’awa the deep water male Hawaiian Hogfish
Most divers in Hawaii have never seen this adult male fish as it usually lives at depths of 100 feet or more, until recently!
CRITTER: Meet puhi the Dwarf Moray Eel
I love to scuba dive by myself and go into underwater caves because there are so many special creatures there that the world rarely if ever sees, and when I am by myself no one scares the fish away!