Achilles Tang

Achilles Tang

Pākuʻikuʻi — “to strike repeatedly”

Pākuʻikuʻi, the Achilles tang, lives in the roughest water on the reef — the white surge zone where most fish will not go — and holds its ground there with a scalpel-sharp spine at the base of its tail. That single orange teardrop is the most recognizable mark in Hawaiian snorkeling.