Ocean Watch

Monday, February 9, 1998

Flying gurnards don’t fly,
but they do walk for food

"OH, I'm glad you're here," one of my boat neighbors said as I walked through the Ala Wai Boat Harbor the other day.

I could tell by the tone of her voice that she had seen something in the water and was about to put me to the test.

Some people might not like the little quizzes I constantly get, but I welcome them. Usually, one of two things happens: Either I know the answer, which makes me and my questioner feel good, or I don't, which launches me into an interesting search for the answer.

What my neighbor had seen in the water near her boat was a fish so distinct that only a few words of description was enough to identify it.

"It's a flying gurnard," I told her.

"Can they fly?" my neighbor asked.

"Uh, I don't think so."

"So why the name?"

I was stuck. I knew the name of this odd fish immediately but could tell my neighbor almost nothing about it until I went home and looked it up.

Flying gurnards have heavily armored, boxy bodies with enormous pectoral fins that look like wings. The fish were named for these winglike fins, but the name is misleading: Flying gurnards never fly. They do, however, get around in an unusual way for a fish: They walk.

Underneath the fish, pelvic fins bearing fingerlike spines hold the fish off the bottom. These odd fins also move like legs, allowing the heavy bottom-dweller to slowly stroll around.

As it moves, the gurnard usually keeps its giant pectoral fins folded at its sides.

The first few forward rays of these fins are free of membranes, enabling the walking fish to dig into the sand for crabs, snails and shrimp. It's when the fish is alarmed that we see it in all its glory.

Threatened gurnards spread their "wings," greatly increasing the fish's apparent size.

If you look at such a posturing gurnard from above, it looks like a huge, nearly round fish.

I have only seen gurnards in such a state of alarm once in the Caribbean and once in Waikiki off the Hawaiian Hilton Village.

But my boat neighbor told me these unusual fish are fairly common in the Ala Wai Harbor, near the breakwater.

Another good place to look for them is in the Magic Island lagoon.

Gurnards grow to about 15 inches long and prefer to cruise along sandy bottoms in solitude.

Their coloring is light greenish with brown spots, a pattern that works well for camouflage on sandy reef floors.

Another name for the flying gurnard is helmet gurnard, a name suited to the fish's armorlike head bones.

The gurnard's scientific name, Dactylopteridae, means "finger wings."

Ancient Hawaiians named this fish loloa'u, and also pinao, the word for dragonfly.

Since it has a name, this fish was likely eaten in old Hawaii.

I have never heard of people eating it today.

One Hawaiian account says the fish's "flight is curved and it drags its tail; it is found with the young of the malolo (flying fish)."

I returned to the boat harbor to report to my neighbor all I had learned about her flightless flying gurnard.

Before I could speak, however, another friend approached with that look in his eye. "Oh, I'm glad you're here ... "