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Melampus luteus

Roro‘ara (MG)

Yellow Ear-shell

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Yellow Ear-shell

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Roro‘ara (MG AT MK MT AK), Lalohala (TS), Rarohara (TW), Laloala ?ID (PK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Pacific

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - v.common; ?; Land, coastal; under rubble and litter

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Locally endangeredOrnament

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
			P?

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

Melampus luteus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832)
SYNONYMS: Melampus flavus (Gmelin, 1791) [might be correct name, see Preece 1995]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; MOLLUSCA; GASTROPODA; PULMONATA; Basommatophora; Ellobiacea; ELLOBIIDAE, Melampodinae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Cooks: Morgan 754-756. Rarotonga: reported, 10/2005, not threatened in strand scrublands, Fred Brook with ID as Melampus luteus in rpt 2005/11. Mangaia: specimen Sue Ngatokorua, 9/2000, ID GMcC. Atiu: field-specimen, College collection, 10/2000, ID GMcC. Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Melampus luteus.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM07a

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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