This is a long story. It has to be. It's about the humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

State Rep. Blake Oshiro had long lived under the delusion that many Hawai'i residents share: that the sprightly colored fish with the excessively long name is Hawai'i's state fish.

But then a conversation with Joel Itomura, the fish-loving 6-year-old son of a friend and constituent, shook his world and maybe the world of souvenir shops that feature reproductions of the stubby-nosed, brightly banded and slightly aggressive little fish whose name few tourists even attempt to utter.

Taken aback by the revelation that the state fish designation wasn't official, Oshiro checked the facts. He discovered that the 6-year-old was right.

"I was really surprised," said Oshiro, D-33rd (Halawa, 'Aiea, Pearlridge), who has drawn up a bill that would make humuhumunukunukuapua'a, also known as the rectangular triggerfish or "humuhumu" for short, the official state fish for Hawai'i.

The belief in the elevated status of the fish is a common one in the Islands, where the fish figures into tourist knickknacks, broadcast commercials and a much-beloved song about a little grass shack.

Much like its name, the fish's road to a state title is surprising, long and confusing.

In 1984 the state Legislature asked the University of Hawai'i and the Waikiki Aquarium to survey the public and come up with a candidate for the state fish. The humuhumu was swept into the spot in part through the support of schoolchildren, who learned of the campaign through classroom projects.

But the method used to poll the public was questioned, and lawmakers limited the designation to five years.

There wasn't a comparable campaign to tell the public that the humuhumu's reign was over, so few knew that anything had changed.

Part of the problem with the humuhumu also is that it isn't unique to Hawai'i, said Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit).

Takai said he had objections to the similar 1995 bill because many in the community were in favor of the 'o'opu, a brownish, freshwater gobie endemic to the Islands, he said.

There is no scarcity of fish species unique to the Islands. Thirteen species of wrasse alone are found here and nowhere else in the world.

But while humuhumu may be found outside of Hawai'i, it has a few undeniable attributes on its side — cuteness and unpalatability.

"Here's a cute little fish. It kind of looks like a pig, and it squawks and everything," said Chuck Johnston, editor of Hawai'i Fishing News.

It's also a good candidate because no one eats humuhumu, he said. Picking a popular game fish such as the ulua could be a problem if environmentalists push to protect it from fishing, he said.

Johnston has asked Gov. Linda Lingle to give the fish the state title in perpetuity through an executive order.

In her reply early last year, Lingle said that decision should be left to the public. She also pointed out that the humuhumu has not historically been held in very high regard, having been used by early Hawaiians as fuel for their fires, not their stomachs.

In October, Johnston included a multipage feature on the state fish question in Hawai'i Fishing News, to help educate and mobilize the public, particularly school kids who read the tabloid in their science classes.

Johnston advocated the Pacific blue marlin two decades ago, but now his support for the humuhumu is unwavering.

"The logical choice is the one that was already selected," Johnston said. "It has been there. He's been crowned."

On the Web: Hawai'i Legislature, bill HB1982: www.capitol.hawaii.gov

Hawaii Fishing News: www.hawaii fishingnews.com