RESEARCH ARTICLE

Five New Records of Fishes for the Hawaiian Islands

John E. Randall, Andrew Gray, Erik C. Franklin, Bruce C. Mundy & John E. McCosker

Abstract

The Ringed Snake Eel Myrichthys colubrinus (Boddaert) is reported here as a first record for the main Hawaiian Islands from an underwater photograph taken off Kauai, and its record for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands by a specimen in the fish collection of the California Academy of Sciences (CAS). The first Hawaiian records of the Shadowfin Soldierfish Myripristis adusta (Bleeker) are from photographs of two fish caught from the Kailua-Kona pier of the island of Hawaii. The third new record, the Bumphead Parrotfish Bolbometopon muricatum (Valenciennes), the largest of the parrotfishes, is based on a specimen that was speared in 70 feet in Onomea Bay, near Hilo on the island of Hawaii. The fourth record, the Bignose Unicornfish Naso vlamingii (Valenciennes), is based on two underwater photographs, one taken at the island of Hawaii, and the other at Niihau. These 4 species are wide-ranging in the Indo-Pacific region from the western Indian Ocean to the Line Islands. Myrichthys colubrinus is reported as well from Johnston Island. The fifth new record is the northern subspecies of the Eastern Pacific Bonito, Sarda chiliensis lineolata (Girard); a specimen was caught in Kaneohe Bay on the island of Oahu. None except N. vlamingii are in the aquarium trade. Although valid as new records for the Hawaiian Islands, they are not regarded as an integral part of the fish fauna.