Reef triggerfish
From Free net encyclopedia
{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Wedge-tail Triggerfish | image = humuhumunukunukuapuaa.jpg | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Actinopterygii | ordo = Tetraodontiformes | familia = Balistidae | genus = Rhinecanthus | species = R. rectangulus | binomial = Rhinecanthus rectangulus | binomial_authority = Bloch & Schneider, 1801 }}
The Reef, Rectangular, or Wedge-tail Triggerfish, also known by its Hawaiian name, humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua‘a, pronounced HOO-moo-HOO-moo-NOO-koo-NOO-koo-AH-poo-AH-ah (meaning "triggerfish with a snout like a pig" [1]), is one of several species of triggerfish. Classified as Rhinecanthus rectangulus, it is endemic to the salt water coasts of various central and south Pacific Ocean islands.
Contents |
Info
The triggerfish's teeth are set close together inside its relatively small mouth, and it has a small second spine, which it can use to lock its first spine into an upright position. The triggerfish will wedge itself into small crevices for protection from predators. In addition, when fleeing predators, the triggerfish will sometimes make grunting noises, possibly to warn other nearby triggerfish of danger at hand.[2]
Diet
Using their extremely sharp teeth and powerful jaws, these fish feed on hard-shelled invertebrates like mollusks and crabs. The reef triggerfish also feeds on algae.
Area
The reef triggerfish is distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and it is especially prominent in the coral reefs of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaii state fish
Contrary to popular belief, this is no longer the state fish of Hawai‘i: It ceased being the state fish in 1990, and Hawai‘i does not have an official state fish as of 2006. However, as of April 2006, a bill was presented to the Governor of Hawai`i which would officially declare the reef triggerfish (humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua‘a) to be the state fish of Hawai‘i.[3] [4]
Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua‘a means "triggerfish with a pig-like short snout". It is not, as often claimed, the longest fish name in Hawai‘ian; that distinction belongs to lau-wiliwili-nukunuku-‘oi‘oi ("long-snouted fish shaped like a wiliwili leaf"), the butterflyfish Forcipiger longirostris.
Pop culture
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Rascals," an animated reef triggerfish is part of the GUI of a classroom computer.
In the Bugs Bunny short "Waikiki Wabbit," Bugs, as the sole inhabitant of a South Pacific Island, greets a pair of shipwrecked sailors by saying "welcome to Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua‘a Island."