Formerly common along deep ledges from 600 to 1000
feet but now depleted due to overfishing. Red with a
prominent yellow stripe, head stout with five conical teeth on each side of
the upper jaw and two below, forked tail lacks elongate tips. A voracious predator of small fish & crustaceans.
An excellent food fish with fine white flesh of lesser importance
than opakapaka and onaga,
and member of the Deep Seven.
Attains 3 feet and at least 10 pounds. The traditional Hawaiian name
'ula'ula
is rarely used today being replaced by 'ehu, which means 'reddish-brown'.
East Africa to Japan, Hawai'i
and French Polynesia. |