Parrotfish (Uhu)
Scientific name: Family Scaridae
Distribution: world-wide in tropical and subtropical seas
Size: from 12 inches (30 cm) to nearly 3 feet (90 cm), depending upon species
Diet: primarly algae, certain species also take living coral tissue
Parrotfishes, called uhu in Hawaiian, inhabit shallow, tropical seas around the world. They are easily recognized by their parrot-like beak of fused teeth, a bluntly-rounded head, large scales, and brilliant colors. Like their relatives, the wrasses, parrotfishes have a single continuous dorsal fin and swim with lazy rowing motions of their pectoral (side) fins. Most range in size from less than 12 inches (30 cm) to nearly three feet (90 cm) in length. Some South Pacific species can reach lengths of over six feet (1.8 m).
Parrotfishes travel alone or in mixed groups close to the reef. They are primarily herbivores, grazing on the fine seaweeds that grow on rock or dead coral surfaces. A few species, like the spectacled parrotfish, may also feed in part on living coral. The grooves that parrotfishes often leave on rocks or coral indicate that as they scrape the rocks for food, they also remove the underlying rock or coral skeleton as well. A pair of hard, grinding plates in the throat (pharyngeal teeth) crushes the rock into a fine powder, and after it passes through the digestive tract, it is eliminated as sand. Parrotfish are thus important reef eroders and more important in the production of sand than any other group of animals in tropical seas. It has been estimated that a large parrotfish may produce as much as a ton of sand a year!
Parrotfishes are diurnal, active by day. At night, they seek shelter among the rocks and coral of the reef. Smaller individuals secrete a cocoon of mucus that encloses the body. Some scientists have suggested that the cocoon may provide sensory defense, masking or containing the parrotfish's scent so that night-active predators cannot sense it. Other researchers propose that the cocoon keeps small night-active creatures off the fish's body. At night, parrotfishes are easy to approach as they sleep in their shelters, and can sometimes even be handled before they become alert enough to swim away.
Parrotfishes have been difficult to classify and name because, like the wrasses, they show different color patterns according to their age and sex. The spectacled parrotfish (Scarus perspicillatus), for example, is reddish brown as a juvenile, then develops a pale tail spot when it becomes a reproductive female. When it later changes sex to become a male, it develops brilliant blue-green color with pink markings. Males of this species reach 2 feet (61 cm) in length. The spectacled parrotfish, or uhu-uliuli, has been reported from Hawai‘i and Johnston Island (to the south).
Uhu were a favorite fish of early Hawaiians and there are Hawaiian names for the different sizes and color forms of the parrotfishes. Their prominence on Hawaiian reefs is reflected by the many Hawaiian legends about them.
Hawaii Fish Cards
Franko's O'ahu Reef Creatures Guide (fish card). Franko's fish cards are stiff, laminated plastic, with a hole for a lanyard. Take it snorkeling or scuba diving with you! Size of Fish Cards: 6" x 9"
Franko’s Oahu Reef Creatures Guide
Side 1 shows a mini-map of Oahu with a few of it’s best diving and snorkeling spots located, most notably Hanauma Bay. The map is a scaled-down version of Franko’s Map of Oahu, showing the island’s lovely shape and green mountains, and the beautiful surrounding Pacific Ocean. A humpback whale, spinner dolphin, and Hawaiian monk seal are depicted on the map. Oahu’s main towns, Pearl Harbor and it’s highways and freeways can be seen. Below the beautiful mini-map is a fabulous photo of Oahu’s most popular snorkeling destination, Hanauma Bay. There is nowhere else on earth that is snorkeled by so many. Just beyond the reef line, which can easily be seen in the photo, the snorkeling just gets better and better. There might be 2000 visitors at any time in the shallows, but out where it is 12 to 18 feet deep there will usually be no one else out there with you. Visibility might reach 80 feet or more. I just had to put it on the fish card to represent the truly fabulous underwater Oahu.
Side 2 shows the wonderful reef life of Oahu. Oahu has such great snorkeling and scuba diving that it must have it’s own quality fish card. This is it! This picture of Oahu’s fish is the result of personal inspiration, as Franko has snorkeled and scuba dived all around Oahu, and especially at Hanauma Bay. The fish card, which measure 6" x 9", is printed on plastic and then laminated so that it is stiff, shiny and waterproof. It has a hole for a lanyard, so you can actually take it diving or snorkeling. I’ve used a thick rubber ban
d as an effective lanyard for mine. The reef creatures depicted on these cards are taken from my own artwork on Franko’s Map of Oahu. The fish shown include over 80 species, including a dozen or so that are found nowhere else on earth. The Hawaiian fish shown are selected from about 435 species that exist in Hawaii, and are based on Franko’s personal exploration. The colors and the means of showing them are based on personal observation. The naming of the fish in Hawaiian as well as English is helped by the experts at the Maui Ocean Center, The Pacific Whale Foundation, Hanauma Bay rangers, The Waikiki Aquarium, and local knowledge. I love them all, but maybe my favorite is the Humuhumu Nukunuku Apua’a, Hawaii’s State Fish.
Franko’s Map of Oahu, The Gathering Place
Franko’s Map of Oahu, The Gathering Place
Side 1 shows Franko’s Map of Oahu, with a view of the whole island, it’s mountain ranges shown in beautiful green shaded relief, as well as it’s freeways and major roads, plus creeks, trails and things to see or places to go. Beyond the island, the ocean waters are shown in beautiful shades of tropical ocean blue, indicating ocean depth contours. All about the island there are descriptions of it’s fabulous scuba and snorkeling spots, famous surfing spots, and great places to visit. Favorite dive spots include Hanauma Bay, possibly the most snorkeled spot on earth, and also Magic Island right next to Waikiki, the wreck of the Y0-257, which is visited by the Atlantis tourist submarine right out of Waikiki, the M/V Mahi on Oahu’s west where eagle rays soar by, Turtles, where numerous green sea turtles can been seen on almost any day, U’lua Cave, or Black Rock, where white tip reef sharks guard a big cave, and many more. The North Shore not only features dive spots like Shark’s Cove, Snagles, Turtle Street and Hale’iwa Trench, but also great surfing spots like Sunset Beach, Banzai Pipeline, Waimea Bay, Chun’s Reef, Laniakea, and Hale’iwa. Follow Franko’s map to Laniakea and check out the old, 300-pound green sea turtles grazing on the algae right at the beach, or even resting on the beach there, as they have for thousands of years. The East Shore shows the map owner where to find the Polynesian Cultural Center (the PCC to the locals), the Mormon Hawaii Temple, which is probably the most beautiful edifice in the State of Hawaii, and Sandy Beach, famous for it’s body-whomping heavy shorebreak, which commonly ruins a few unwary tourists’ vacations, as they find out just how powerful the beautiful ocean can be. Around the map there is a collection of artwork of tropical fish, which are named in Hawaiian and English, and depicted in a reef environment with photos by Franko.
Side 2 shows Franko’s Map of Waikiki & Oahu South Shore Details. The entire South Shore from Honolulu to Makapu’u Head, Oahu’s easternmost point, is shown so that the viewer can get a close-up view of the island topography, including Diamond Head Crater. More things to do, places to visit, dive and diving sites are shown. The highlight of this side of the map is the superbly detailed map of Waikiki, which shows where everything is, including most of the hotels, Kapiolani Park, Ala Moana Beach Park, Waikiki Beach, the Ala Moana Shopping Center, the International Market Place, over 200 buildings, the DFS Galleria, the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, Ala Wai Harbor, Ala Wai Canal, Ala Wai Golf Course, and much more. Local well known surfing, snorkeling and diving spots are shown with descriptions as well. This map of Waikiki is the very best there is, except for the one that appears on Franko’s Map of Waikiki and Oahu with Things to See and Do. In depth topographical map of Oahu with detailed listing of beaches dive sites and the tropical fish in the area. Printed on waterproof tear-resistant paper. Measures 21 x 14 open 7 x 4.25 folded.
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