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Halichoeres marginatus

Dusky Wrasse

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Dusky Wrasse, Speckled Rainbowfish; French Labre Barré

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Cocos-Keeling - Tuamotu; s.Japan - Australs

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore, lagoon and seaward reefs; lagoon and seaward reef, mainly upper edge, to 30m

KEY FEATURES: To 17cm. Regional variations; sexes different. JUV black with variable white stripes; large eyespot on Dorsal. IP-FEMALE brown with darkstripes on scale-centres; black eyespot on Dorsal. TP-MALE greenish to brown, with dark blue to purple lines on face and stripes over whole body breaking into spots posteriorly; tail with yellow to green or blue bands, wide central band with darke-edged spots.

Enlarged Image of 'Halichoeres marginatus'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Scientific Taxonomy

Halichoeres marginatus Rüppell, 1835
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Labroidei; LABRIDAE, Julidini

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: 17cm Local variations. JUV. black with white stripes; Dorsal with large dark eye-spot. IP dark brown with darker brown stripes on body; black eyespot on Dorsal. TP-MALE body anterior greenish to orange-brown with purple-blue stripes on scale-centres breaking into blue-edged green spots posteriorly; tail with yellow, green or blue bands, and wide central band of dark-edged spots.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldsight, Avarua Harbour, also Mataora Wreck, also Maritime Reefer (Juv, black spot on D fin), 10/2001, ID M.Francis - usually 10-20m..

References:
text p.186 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 98ab Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.318 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.440 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 98-03 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 75-05 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. p411 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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