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Ophiocoma scolopendrina

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Image:	Adult, Guam	120KB
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General Information

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Tuamotus; Hawai‘i; n. to Japan

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore

KEY FEATURES: Large to 36cm Total Diameter. Disc 25mm, arms 4-7x disc diam. (to 170mm). Disc usually brown with blotches of white, sometimes uniformly brown, covered with granules extending onto the oral surface. Arms dorsally banded dark and light brown, sometimes uniformly brown. Ventral side of disc and arms are uniformly cream. Uppermost arm spines largest and longest.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Ophiocoma erinaceus: is uniformly dark; has shorter arms (to 4x discØ); has more robust dorsal spines on arms; and ? granules stop at dorsal edge of disc.

Enlarged Image of 'Ophiocoma scolopendrina'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Ophiocoma scolopendrina (Lamarck, 1816)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ECHINODERMATA; ELEUTHEROZOA; STELLEROIDEA; OPHIUROIDEA; Ophiuroida; OPHIOCOMIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

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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