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Caracanthus maculatus

Spotted Coral Croucher

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Spotted Coral Croucher, Pacific Spotted Velvetfish, Spotted Croucher; French Poisson-velours à Taches Écarlates

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE ne.Indian Ocean - Line Is.; n. to s.Japan, s. to Australs

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore, seaward reef

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Poisonous spines - moderate

KEY FEATURES: To 5cm. A wide-oval light grey fish with numerous small red spots. Body covered with tubercles, appearing "furry". Dorsal spines venomous. Lives within branching corals.. NOTE: To 5cm. Deep bodied and blunt-faced. Body light grey with small red spots. Poisonous Dorsal Spines. Lives within branching corals.

Enlarged Image of 'Caracanthus maculatus'

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

Caracanthus maculatus (Gray, 1831)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Scorpaeniformes; Scorpaenoidei; CARACANTHIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldsight, 3-10m, common in corals with Red Hawk, 10/2001, ID M.Francis.

References:
text p.92 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 92 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.85 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.158 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 17-10 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes

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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