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Arothron hispidus

‘Ue

Whitespot Puffer

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Whitespot Puffer, Stars and Stripes Puffer; German Weissfleck-Kugelfisch; French Poisson-ballon à Épaule Noire, Poisson-ballon Taches Blanches, Compère à Tâche Blanches

TRADITIONAL NAMES: ‘Ue (RR), Ueue (AT), ‘Ue‘ue (AK), U‘e (PL), Sue (TS TW), Yue Kawa (PK); Other Polynesian - Huehue (TAH)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Fr.Polynesia, Hawai‘i - tropical America; n. to s.Japan; s. to Lord Howe - Rapa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - present; N.Group - present; Marine, near-shore, outer reef-slope

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Not eaten.; Poisonous to eat - serious

KEY FEATURES: To 50cm. Top and sides grey to greenish-brown with white spots, plus a few white lines on lowersides; belly white. Base of Pectoral a large black spot with white edge.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
	P		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

Pests & Hosts

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Relationship	Hosts
Toxic - serious	Homo sapiens,

Scientific Taxonomy

Arothron hispidus (Linnaeus, 1758)
SYNONYMS: Tetraodon hispidus [O] [Tetrodon is a misspelling]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Tetraodontiformes; Tetraodontoidei; Tetraodontoidea; TETRAODONTIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: field sighting 1x60cm TL mid-water in 20m depth Avatiu ID N.Sims (Sims88). <>AK fieldsight, lagoon, 12/2000, GMcC. Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Manihiki: A769-2specimens as Arothron reticularis an Indian Ocean-w.Pacific sp. (B&M74). Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004.

References:
text p.266 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 141d Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.473 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.645 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 138-08 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 103-13 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 1038 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

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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