In 1898, Thomas G. Thrum’s Hawaiian Annual published a list of the various types of fish that were supplied to Honolulu markets. The list, Thrum said, was compiled from reports provided to the territorial Board of Health.
Of the 97 varieties listed, he noted, “all but about twenty five may be said to be regularly in market. The total number per week range from 38,000 up to 80,000.”
The fish were listed by common Hawaiian names. Only in the case of opae, honu, mano, papai, and puhi were common English names provided (shrimp, turtle, shark, crab, and eel, respectively).
We republish the list, with common English names provided. Most translations and the insertion of `okina follow Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary (1986). The order in which the fish are listed is that provided by Thrum.
`A`ama (black crab)
`A`awa (wrasse)
A`u (swordfish, sailfish, spearfish, marlin)
A`ua (large opelu)
A`ua`u (small a`u fish)
`Aha (needlefish)
`Aha`aha (young needlefish)
`Ahi (yellowfin tuna)
Aholehole (Kuhlia sandvicensis )
Aku (bonito, skipjack tuna)
Akule (big-eyed scad)
Ala`ihi (squirrelfish)
`Alalaua (young of the `aweoweo fish)
Aloalo (squilla, or mantis shrimp)
Alo`ilo`i (damselfish)
`Ama`ama (mullet)
`Aniholoa (small fish)
Awa (milkfish)
`Awela (young stage of hou fish, Christmas wrasse)
`Aweoweo (various species of Priacanthus, red fishes, sometimes called bigeye)
Ea (this could either be `ea, the hawksbill turtle, or `e`a, a fish similar to `a`awa but with darker flesh; diacritical marks are not provided by Thrum for this and most other entries)
Enenue (variant of nenue, chub fish)
I`a`ula`ula (goldfish, introduced from Japan or China)
I`apake (literally, Chinese fish; Ophiocephalus straus, found in taro or rice patches and streams)
Iheihe (halfbeak)
`Oama (young of the weke, or goatfish)
`O`io (bonefish)
`O`opu (goby)
`Olali (young of hou)
`Omaka (Hilo name for makiawa, or herring; also belted wrasse fish)
`Omilu (a kind of ulua; blue jack)
Ono (large mackerel)
`Opae (shrimps)
`Opelu (mackerel scad)
`Opihi (limpet)
`Opule (a wrasse)
`U`u (soldierfishes)
Uukanipo (no entry found in Pukui and Elbert)
Uhu (parrotfish)
Uku (deep-sea snapper)
Ula (spiny lobster)
Ula`ula (red snapper)
Ulapapapa (gray crayfish)
Ulua (large jack)
`Upapalu (the larger cardinal fishes)
Umaumalei (fish similar to but darker than the palani or puala [see entries below]. It has bright orange-red spots around the gills and side fins and at the base of the caudal fin.)
Halalu (young of the akule)
Hapu`upu`u (young of the grouper, or hapu`u, fish)
He`e (squid or octopus)
Hilu (reef fish of the genus Coris)
Hihimanu (sting ray)
Hinalea (small, brightly colored wrasses)
Honu (turtle)
Humuhumu (triggerfishes)
Kahala (amberjack)
Kaku (barracuda)
Kala (surgeon or unicorn fish)
Kawakawa (adult bonito)
Kihikihi (Moorish idol)
Kole (surgeonfish)
Kumu (goatfish)
Kupoupou (cigar wrasse fish)
Laenihi (name applied to various high-headed labroid fishes of the genera Hemipteronotus and Iniistius; literally, sharp forehead)
Lai (various scombroid fish)
La`ipala (bright yellow reef fish, Zebrasoma flavescens, lit. yellow ti-leaf)
Lauhau (butterfly fish)
Leleiona (shark-sucker, remora)
Maika (?)
Ma`i`i`i (surgeonfish)
Mahimahi (dolphin fish)
Malamalama (Coris ballieui)
Malolo (flying fish)
Mamamo (a sergeantfish)
Manini (convict tang)
Mano (shark)
Mikiawa (variation of makiawa, a round herring)
Moa (variety of pahu, or trunkfish, Ostracion meleagris)
Moano (goatfish)
Moi (threadfin)
Momomi (type of fish also known as maomao)
Mu (a type of crab; also big-eye Emperor fish)
Nohu (scorpionfish)
Nunu (trumpetfish)
Pau`u (second stage in the growth of papio, or ulua fish)
Paki`i (various flatfishes)
Palani (a surgeonfish)
Panuhunuhu (star-eye parrotfish, said to be second stage of uhu, or parrotfish)
Papai (crabs)
Pipio (probably papio, or young ulua)
Po`ou (wrasse)
Po`opa`a (hawkfish)
Pualu (surgeonfish with blue line across the soft part of the fin)
Puhi (eels)
Puhiki`i (according to some, the young of all flying fish; or same as Malolo)
Wana (sea urchin)
Weke (goatfish)
Welea (a lizard fish)
Volume 12, Number 11 May 2002
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