The distinctive characteristic of these fish is a scaly sheath around the dorsal and anal fins. The dorsal fin is deeply notched between the 10 spines and the 9 to 13 soft rays. The opercle has two spines, and the anal fin three. Their bodies are compressed and silvery, and they tend to be small, growing to 50 cm at most.
During the day, they usually school, dispersing at night to feed on free-swimming fish and crustaceans.
Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are:[7]
^Mary Kawena Pukui and Elbert (2003). "lookup of āhole". on Hawaiian dictionary. Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library, University of Hawaii. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
^Mary Kawena Pukui and Elbert (2003). "lookup of āholehole". on Hawaiian dictionary. Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library, University of Hawaii. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
^ abRandall, J.E. and H.A. Randall, 2001. Review of the fishes of the genus Kuhlia (Perciformes: Kuhliidae) of the Central Pacific. Pac. Sci. 55(3):227-256.
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