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Scorpaenopsis macrochir

Flasher Scorpionfish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Flasher Scorpionfish; French Poisson-scorpion Flamme

TRADITIONAL NAMES: No‘u (AK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Indonesia - Marquesas; n. to s.Japan; s. to Tonga

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group (AK, ?elsewhere), ?N.Group; Marine, near-shore, lagoons and outer-reef, to 50+m; in shallow protected waters of lagoons and bays, or brackish water

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Poisonous spines - serious

KEY FEATURES: Humpbacked scorpionfish, to 14cmSL. Mouth not strongly oblique, ~45°. Inner side of Pectorals - axil pale with black spots, orange with submaringal black bar, fading posteriorly. Flashes orange of Pectorals when disturbed (as does Scorpaenipsis diabolus).

SIMILAR SPECIES: See under Devil Scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis diabolus).

Enlarged Image of 'Scorpaenopsis macrochir'

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
					P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Pests & Hosts

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Relationship	Hosts
Venomous - spines	Homo sapiens,

Scientific Taxonomy

Scorpaenopsis macrochir Ogilby, 1910
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Scorpaeniformes; Scorpaenoidei; SCORPAENIDAE, Scorpaeninae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Aitutaki: specimen, 9cm, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, #16318 - in Randall and W N Eschmeyer (2001).

References:
Special Reference: J E Randall and W N Eschmeyer (2001) Revision of the Indo-Pacific scorpionfish genus scorpaenopsis, with descriptions of eight new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 2001, no 34.

text p.96 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 22b Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 19-03 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes

Data Update History (information):
zB02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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