Juvenile, Firehouse, O'ahu, 35 feet

Kahe Point, O'ahu, 30 feet

Juvenile, Honaunau, Hawai'i, 25 feet

Juvenile, Firehouse, O'ahu, 35 feet

Juvenile, Alligator Rock, O'ahu, 25 feet

Black morph, Kewalo, O'ahu, 90 feet

Black morph, Pu'u Olai, Maui, 50 feet

Black morph, Hanauma Bay, O'ahu, 30 feet

Locally common over sand at scuba depths and juveniles are seen during summer.  Color pattern varies with age, adults gray with indistinct vertical bars, a white patch behind the pectoral fins, and a small oblong black spot above.  Black individuals are rare and nearly indistinguishable from black Iniistius aneitensis.  Attains 12 inches.  A popular food fish that feeds upon buried invertebrates and dives into the sand when threatened.  Red Sea to Okinawa, Hawai'i, French Polynesia, and Tropical Eastern Pacific.  Formerly known as Hemipteronotus pavoninus, black fish as Hemipteronotus niger.