Reef triggerfish

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

Reef triggerfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Tetraodontiformes Family: Balistidae Genus: Rhinecanthus Species: R. rectangulus
Binomial name
Rhinecanthus rectangulus Bloch & Schneider, 1801

The reef, rectangular, or wedge-tail triggerfish, also known by its Hawaiian name, humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa (IPA: [ˌhumuˌhumuˌnukuˌnukuˌa:puˈaʔa], also spelled humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua‘a or just humuhumu for short; 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. It is often asserted that the Hawaiian name is one of the longest words in the English Language and that "the name is longer than the fish."

[edit] Description

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 and lock their spine to make it almost impossible to get them out. In addition, when fleeing predators, the triggerfish will sometimes make grunting noises, possibly to warn other nearby triggerfish of danger at hand.[2] They hide in crevasses.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Distribution

The reef triggerfish is distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and it is especially prominent in the coral reefs of the Hawaiian Islands.

[edit] Hawaii state fish

Due to an expiration of an Hawaiian state law, the trigger fish ceased to be the state fish of Hawaii in 1990.^[1] However, as of April 2006, a bill was presented to the Governor of Hawaiʻi which reinstated the reef triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa) to be the state fish of Hawaiʻi. The bill passed into law May 2, 2006 and was effective upon its approval. ^[2][3]

Humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa means "triggerfish with a pig-like short snout". It is not, as often claimed, the longest fish name in Hawaiian; that distinction belongs to lauwiliwilinukunukuʻoiʻoi ("long-snouted fish shaped like a wiliwili leaf"), the butterflyfish Forcipiger longirostris.

[edit] Trivia

• Eric Stone, a "boat songs" musician often compared to Jimmy Buffet, sang a song about the fish titled simply, "The Humuhumunukunukuapuaa" found on the CD The Legend of the Lost Soul (2001).
• The 1933 song My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua Hawaii written by Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison, and Johnny Noble, and popularized by Hank Snow is nostalgic about the place "Where the humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa go swimming by".[3]
• 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 Humuhumunukunukuapuaʻaʻaʻaʻaʻaʻaʻa... Island."
• The daily comic strip Sherman's Lagoon features a visit of a Humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa in the strips starting from 2006-07-15. Among others, he retells his story of being reinstalled as the Hawaiian state fish.
• The Fanta commercials feature a Hawaiian man named Jimijimi Humuhumunukunukuapuaa.
• It was also used by the Kona Bicycle Company as a name for one of their bikes in the mid '90s. Kona reinstated the bike and it is currently offered in 2006.
• It was accidentally captured by Dog "The Bounty Hunter" Chapman's daughter on an episode of the Dog the Bounty Hunter. It was released safely after Dog found out that it was a HumuHumu.
• In the LDS movie The R.M., the Tongan foreign exchange student is named Humuhumuhukuapua'a.
• The trancefusion jamband The Disco Biscuits have a song named Humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-28-humu_x.htm
2. ^ http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessioncurrent/bills/hb1982_.htm
3. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12371386/

• Rhinecanthus rectangulus (TSN 173206). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 30 January 2006.
• Marine Life Profile: Reef Triggerfish. Waikiki Aquarium. Retrieved on November 10, 2005.
• "Rhinecanthus rectangulus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. December 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
• Legislation to permanently establish as Hawaii state fish. Retrieved on January 28, 2006.
• Hawaii may honor fish with long name. Retrieved on April 18, 2006.