Acanthurus lineatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Striped with electric blue, yellow and black, this spectacular surgeonfish is perhaps Hawai`i's rarest, recorded only from South Point, Hawai`i, and Hanauma Bay, O`ahu, where one lone individual has been seen off and on for years. Stray larvae evidently drift to Hawai`i from time to time and mature, but the species does not breed here. Elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific it inhabits the turbulent surge zone where males hold territories and maintain harems. The scalpels of this surgeonfish are venomous. In many surgeons the scalpels or the area around them is brightly colored as a warning; in this case the entire fish is the warning! To about 10 in. Photo: Pai`olu`olu Point, O`ahu. 30 ft.