They can change colors in less than a second! When they move from the flat reef where they have a blocked pattern to the sand they immediately develop a sandy pattern to match their background.

Paki‘i can rotate each eye independently much like a chameleon can on land and they often bury under the sand with only their eyes poking up like a submarine periscope. The Peacock Flounder is the largest left eyed species and is the most common nearshore species. Here in Hawai‘i we have about 12 left eyed flounder species and only one right eyed species. The Peacock Flounder is a left eyed flatfish. They call this a “right eyed flounder” or a “left eyed flounder”. Some flounder species have their right eye migrate and others have their left eye migrate. They start to develop a white underside and eventually lay flat on the seafloor with both eyes on top of their head. As they grow one eye migrates to the top of the head and they turn sideways. They have an eye on each side of their head and a normal looking dorsal and pectoral fin. What is so odd about the flatfish family which includes the halibut, sole and flounder is they start out looking just like a normal fish when they hatch. This happens so fast that the prey has no idea what just ate them. When a small fish swims over the top of the paki‘i it zooms up and sucks down the prey.

The flounder is an ambush predator as its prey also can’t see it. Dozens of snorkelers swam right over it and never saw it. Recently at Sharks Cove in O‘ahu, I shot video of a large paki‘i in two feet deep of water where it did not move for an hour. West Coast that can get seven foot long!Īnyone who has seen this strange fish will notice that it has two eyes on top of its head and lays flat on its white belly on the seafloor.

The Peacock Flounder is the largest species in Hawai‘i and they can grow up to 20 inches long but they are related to the giant halibut on the U.S. The Peacock Flounder is so hard to see that most divers and snorkelers go right over them because they are so camouflaged and they can change colors instantly to whatever background reef they are on. Paki‘i is one very strange fish! The Hawaiian name means fallen flat or spread out because they lay flat on the sandy seafloor or flat reef areas.

Flat fish with eyes on top