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Ptereleotris heteroptera

Spot-tail Dartfish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Spot-tail Dartfish, Pale Gudgeon, Spottail Dartfish

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Marquesas, Hawai‘i; n. to Ryukyu; s. to Lord Howe

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, lagoons, near-shore, 5-50m; usually over sand or rubble

KEY FEATURES: Elongate fish to 10cmSL. Pale blue to blue-grey with black blotch in middle of tail (spot absent or faint on juveniles).

Enlarged Image of 'Ptereleotris heteroptera'

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

Scientific Taxonomy

Ptereleotris heteroptera (Bleeker, 1855)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Gobioidei; MICRODESMIDAE, Ptereleotrinae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldsighting?, 6/2004, M.Francis with ID as Ptereleotris ?heteroptera, confirmed J.Randall as Ptereleotris heteroptera, 7/2004.

References:
text p.221 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 118a Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.417 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.568 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 119-05 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 91-14 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....

Data Update History (information):
zB04b, zD04b

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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