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Arothron meleagris

‘Ue

Guineafowl Puffer

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Image:	Adult	59KB
Video:	on Rarotonga (© Karl Traylor)	312KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Guineafowl Puffer, Golden Puffer, Whitespotted Balloon, Whitespotted Puffer; German Sternen-Kugelfisch; French Tétrodon Moucheté, Ballon-pintade, Compère Pintade

TRADITIONAL NAMES: ‘Ue (RR MK), ‘Ue‘ue Takātai (MG), Ueue (AT MT), ‘Ue‘ue (AK), Sue (TS TW), Yue (PK)

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - common; N.Group - common; Marine, near-shore, lagoon, reef-flat and outer reef-slope to 20+m

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

KEY FEATURES: To 40cm SL.(RM91)

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
	P		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

View as a Search List
Relationship	Hosts
Toxic - serious	Homo sapiens,

Scientific Taxonomy

Arothron meleagris (Lacepède, 1798)
SYNONYMS: Tetraodon meleagris [O]

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

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: field sightings ID N.Sims (Sims88). Mangaia: specimen, College, 9/2000, ID GMcC. Atiu: field-specimen, College collection, 10/2000, ID GMcC. Mauke: field-specimen, College, 3/2001, ID GMcC. Aitutaki: field sightings ID N.Sims (Sims88). Palmerston: Photo86 (G&S85). Manihiki: A762-1specimen, A769-1,A770-1,A958-1 (B&M74); photo lagoon ID N.Sims, confirmed J.E.Randall (Sims88). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 1/2004, KS/GM with ID as Arothron meleagris. Suwarrow: Photo lagoon ID N.Sims, ID confirmed J.E.Randall (Sims88 & EIA99).

References:
text p.266 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 141e Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.645 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 138-02 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes

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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