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Arothron nigropunctatus

‘Ue

Blackspotted Puffer

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Blackspotted Puffer, Racoon Puffer, Blackspotted Puffer, Yellow Pufferfish; German Schwarzflecken-Kugelfisch; French Tétrodon Jaune, Poisson-ballon à Taches Noires, Poisson-ballon à Queue Jaune

TRADITIONAL NAMES: ‘Ue (RR MK), ‘Ue‘ue (MG AK), Ueue (AT MT), Sue (TS TW), Yue Kawa (PK); Other Polynesian - Huehue Rearea (TAH)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Samoa - Cooks; n. to s.Japan; s. to New Caledonia

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

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

KEY FEATURES: To 27cm SL.(RM91) [ 25cm - GBR]

Enlarged Image of 'Arothron nigropunctatus'

Cook Islands Distribution

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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 nigropunctatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
SYNONYMS: Tetraodon nigropunctatus [O]

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

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: field sightings grey & yellow morphs ID N.Sims (Sims88). Palmerston: Photo87 (G&S85). Manihiki: field sightings grey & yellow morphs ID N.Sims (Sims88). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Arothron nigropunctatus.

References:
text p.267 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 142b Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.474 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.645 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 138-03 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 103-16 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 1034 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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