Based on the photographic evidence, this fish appears to be a new find for Hawaii. However, until the taxonomy experts get involved, we won't really know for sure if it is a transplant or a hybrid.
I asked John Hoover for an identification of the an unusual juvenile wrasse Dee spotted and I photographed (the bottom 6 photos) and his response was "Congrats on your discovery Nanette, I couldn't ID the wrasse, so sent it to John Earle, who also could not ID it. John sent it to Dr. Randall who says that it is a juvenile Stethojulis bandanensis--the first known sighting of that species in Hawaii! You have made ichthylogical history."
The common name for Stethojulis bandanensis is Red shoulder
Wrasse.
These two photos are courtesy of Fernando Lopez Arbaello, February 26,
2005
These are the photos I took February 19, 2005. They are all the same fish (coloring is due to my inexperience as a photographer, I am working on it.) At first I thought it was a juvenile (female) Pencil Wrasse (Pseudojuloides cerasinus) but the spots on the back of the dorsal fin and the little spots on the head made me think it is a hybrid, perhaps with an Elegant Coris (Coris venusta). I am thrilled to hear it might be a new species in Hawaii.
Some sites to view the adult of the Red shoulder Wrasse:
http://species.fishindex.com/species_6258stethojulis_bandanensis.html
http://64.95.130.5/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?id=5640
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/stethojulis.htm
For comparison, here is a photo of a juvenile Belted Wrasse
(Stethojulis balteata) courtesy of John Hoover.
