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Balistoides conspicullum

Clown Triggerfish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Clown Triggerfish, Big-spotted Triggerfish, Yellow-blotched Triggerfish; French Baliste-clown

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Samoa - Cooks - ?Line Islands; n. to s.Japan; s. to New Caledonia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - rare PL only; N.Group - SW; Marine, near-shore, clear seaward reefs to 75m

KEY FEATURES: To 50cm. Black, lower-sides with large white spots, topside with central yellow network; snout with white bar in front of eyes; lips+ orange-yellow; tail with white bar. JUVENILES white spots smaller and extend onto upper-half; 2nd Dorsal, Anal and Tail white; snout yellow.

Enlarged Image of 'Balistoides conspicullum'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group: Present
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

Scientific Taxonomy

Balistoides conspicullum (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
SYNONYMS: Balistes conspicillum [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Tetraodontiformes; Tetraodontoidei; Balistoidea; BALISTIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Palmerston: fieldspecimen+photo ~33cmSL, 12/2000, Tikaroa James Marsters and Hoyt Peckham, ID GM. Suwarrow: fieldspecimen in lagoon near Oneone, 8/2003, G.Wragg and C.Neal as Balistoides conspicullum.

References:
text p.281 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 181ab Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.453 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.623 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 133-04 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 101-02 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 1047 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

Data Update History (information):
zB02, zD02

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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