In Hawaiian, this is the nunu or the Trumpetfish also known scientifically as Aulostomus chinensis.

The nunu or the trumpetfish are one of the most common fish predators on the Hawaiian reefs. Trumpetfish have a body that is flattened from side to side. They are long and slender and their bodies are very stiff and do not bend while swimming. There are 3 trumpetfish species worldwide, 2 are in the Atlantic, and 1 is in the Indo-Pacific. Their bodies have the ability to blend in with the background donning pale vertical bars, longitudinal stripes, or both. They can be yellow, reddish brown, or a brownish gray with pale bands. While usually sneaky and solitary predators, it is not uncommon to see them swim with schools of other fish and try to camoflage to blend in. This behavior allows the other fish to drive out small prey and the trumpetfish to come in to suck them up.

Trumpetfish are carnivores.

They will stalk their prey moving slowly as to appear almost motionless and hovering. It is common to see them hanging vertically in the water close to the reef and over rocky seafloors or hanging out hiding motionless under ledges. When they get close enough, they will strike by darting in quickly, expanding their jaws (mulitple times) in order to create a strong suction force that will carry the prey into their mouth. This action is what lead to the name of trumpetfish, as it expands its tubular snout it looks like a trumpet horn. Hunting is done during the day most of the time but they seem to be most succesful at dusk or dawn. Fun fact: Atlantic trumpetfish will capture their prey with an 18% success rate. The trumpetfish, coronetfish, pipefish, seahorse, shrimpfish, and snipefish all belong to the same group. That group is the order Syngathiformes. All these fish will hunt similarily by expanding their mouth to create that suction drawing their prey into their mouths.

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