Meet umauma lei the Orangespine Unicornfish

Many of the Hawaiian fish species only live in Hawaii because the island chain is so isolated that many fish species evolved here and nowhere else in the Pacific Ocean. For a fish to get all the way to Hawaii its eggs must be able to float in currents from as far away as Tahiti or Guam so over millions of years Hawaii has a lot of beautiful reef fish but not as many as most other Pacific Islands.

Meet kohola the humpback whale

We have several whale species here in Hawaii and they are all called kohola but in old Hawaii the humpback whale was very rare in Hawaiian waters.

Meet the one armed linckia sea star

The first time I saw a five inch long spotted linckia sea star while diving, I gently picked it up to get a better view and shoot a video clip of this beautiful red and grey reef creature.

Meet lauwiliwili the Milletseed Butterflyfish

This six inch long bright yellow fish is Hawaii’s most abundant butterflyfish. On the deep water ledges on the island of Ni’ihau there are schools of over 1,000 milletseed butterflyfish and diving with them is like being in a yellow snow storm.

Meet nohu the devil scorpion-fish

You do not want to step on this foot long fish here in Hawaii as it could send you to the hospital! What is so amazing is that very few people get stung by the devil scorpionfish even though I have seen people step right next to one sitting camouflaged right on top of the reef.

LILLEY: Meet the beautiful Kauai yellow antler coral

Antler corals in Hawaii are one of the most beautiful coral species that can grow to about three foot tall and are usually brown, golden or green colored but in one location in Kauai they are bright yellow.

Meet the rock-mover wrasse, the fish that looks like seaweed

The rock-mover wrasse grows to be 12 inches long, but the babies look more like a piece of limu (seaweed) than a fish. The two-inch-long baby rock-movers have branching fins that grow out from their body, resembling the seaweed that grows on the reef.

Meet the Hawaiian cleaner wrasse “the fish dentist”

Do you know that the fish here in Hawai‘i go to the dentist on a regular basis to have their teeth cleaned? From large sharks to young yellow tangs, they all get free dental work, but they must go to the dentist’s office. We call their office a “cleaning station,” and the dentist is a Hawaiian cleaner wrasse.