Juvenile, Puako, Hawaii, 25 feet

Puako, Hawaii, 25 feet

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 4 feet

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 10 feet

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 6 feet

Cabo Pulmo, Baja California, Mexico

Two dots below pectoral fin

Moku o Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 2 feet

Night, Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 4 feet

Night, Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 4 feet

Night, Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 4 feet

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 25 feet

Old, Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 25 feet

Spawning Color, Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 25 feet

Juvenile, Makua, Oahu, 10 feet

Night, Kapoho, Hawaii, 3 feet

Sharks Cove, Oahu, 15 feet

Makaha, Oahu, 25 feet

Waimea Bay, Oahu, 25 feet

Waimea Bay, Oahu, 25 feet

Juvenile, Waimea Bay, Oahu, 25 feet

Ahihi Bay, Maui, 4 feet

Kewalo, Oahu, 50 feet

Commonly seen on shallow reefs forming large feeding aggregations mixed with other species.  Young are common in tidepools during summer.  Hawaiian fish have a continuous sickle-shaped black bar below the pectoral fins.  Attains 11 inches.  Red Sea to Okinawa, Hawai'i, French Polynesia, and Tropical Eastern Pacific.  The Hawaiian population was once referred to as Acanthurus sandvicensis since the black mark below the pectoral fin is a diagonal bar rather than a series of dots.  Other locations throughout its range have their own unique pattern.  Mexican fish have two dots at the base of the pectoral fin, South Pacific one dot.