Turkeyfish off Hawaii Kai

[Isurus9]

Little guy thats been spotted a couple times over the past couple weeks. I finally had my camera with me to get a good shot.

 

[DiveWestOahu]

nice shot!!! it's a lion tho, the turkey is green and has much fatter pectoral fins

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

The one in this post is the Hawaiian Lionfish (Pterois sphex). The greenish one is the Green Lionfish (Dendrochirus barberi). I saw a few greens a few months back but would love to see the Turkeyfish!

Nice shot,

Sean

 

[Scuba Justin]

It is the Hawaiian Lionfish, also called Hawaiian Turkeyfish, or else John Randall is wrong in his books.
also see http://www.marinelifephotography.com/fishes/scorpionfishes/scorpionfishes.htm for good ID shots.

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

So Justin, are you repeating what I said or are you somehow correcting either of us?

Maybe a quote would clear things up!

Sean

 

[coachrenz]

If we all just used scientific names there wouldn't be an issue. According to Randall, the Hawaiian Turkeyfish is Pterois sphex, so, I would assume that Hawaiian Lionfish is another common name. At least, that is how I read Justin's post.

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

Thanks Tim,

Looking at my Hoover Book I see the following:

"Some authorities prefer the name Hawaiian Lionfish for this species(The Green Lionfish) and use Hawaiian Turkeyfish for the following species(Pterois sphex)." (I added the (info)) It looks like DiveWest was calling the Green Lion a Turkeyfish which is incorrect.

I see why Justin was repeating it and citing a reference since it's confusing!

Sean

 

[coachrenz]

Thanks Tim,

Looking at my Hoover Book I see the following:

"Some authorities prefer the name Hawaiian Lionfish for this species(The Green Lionfish) and use Hawaiian Turkeyfish for the following species(Pterois sphex)." (I added the (info)) It looks like DiveWest was calling the Green Lion a Turkeyfish which is incorrect.

I see why Justin was repeating it and citing a reference since it's confusing!

Sean

And my understanding is that Randall is THE guru for the Hawaii fish. At least that is what I was told by the REEF scientist.

And to make it all even more confusing, Randall calls the Dendrochirus barberi the Hawaiian Lionfish.

So, in summary:

Randall's Shore Fishes of Hawai'i says:

Dendrochirus barberi the Hawaiian Lionfish
Peterois sphex the Hawaiian Turkeyfish

while

Hoover's Hawaii's Fishes: A guide for Snorkelers Divers and Awuarists says:

Dendrochirus barberi the Green Lionfish
Peterois sphex the Hawaiian Lionfish

And I would say that the picture in the original post is definitely a Peterois sphex.

Apparently, Hawaii is one of the only places that doesn't have a central organization that manages the accepted common name.

Now are we all confused?

 

[Tigerman]

Yes Tim, we are! Mission accomplished!

 

[DiveWestOahu]

I've got 4 books that all have different names for them, which one is correct?? I just go by what my years of experience and thousands of dives with marine bioligists have told me, most notably richard pyle from the bishop museum who has about 3000 fish named after himself