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Heterocentrotus mammillatus

‘Atuke

Brown Pencil-urchin

Multimedia & Additional Resources

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Image:	Adult, Rarotonga	27KB
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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Brown Pencil-urchin, Slate Pencil Urchin, Red Pencil Urchin

TRADITIONAL NAMES: ‘Atuke / ‘Etuke (RR), ‘Atuke (MG AT MK MT AK), Tētē (MH), Wetuke (PK NS)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Tuamotu - Hawai‘i

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore, outer reef-slope, shallow

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Food

KEY FEATURES: Variable in colour. The longer dorsal and lateral spines may be long and tapering or rather stumpy, light brown to dark brown, ± pale bands distally. The short secondary spines covering the test are dark purple-black or creamy white.

Enlarged Image of 'Heterocentrotus mammillatus'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Heterocentrotus mammillatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
SYNONYMS: Heterocentrotus mamillatus; Echinus mamillatus [Linnaeus's original spelling]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ECHINODERMATA; ELEUTHEROZOA; ECHINOIDEA; REGULARIA; Camorodonta; ECHINOMETRIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mangaia: specimen, College, 9/2000, ID GMcC. Atiu: field-specimen, College collection, 10/2000, ID GMcC. Mauke: field-specimen, College collection, 3/2001, ID GMcC. Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Heterocentrotus mammillatus

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, 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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