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Callechelys catostomus

Dark-banded Snake-Eel

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Dark-banded Snake-Eel, Black-striped Snake-Eel

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Maldives - Societies; n. to s.Japan

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - Aitutaki only; N.Group - unknown; Marine, near-shore

Enlarged Image of 'Callechelys catostomus'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Callechelys catostomus (Schneider & Forster, 1801)
SYNONYMS: Sphagebranchus catostomus [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Anguilliformes; Congroideii; OPHICHTHIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Aitutaki: specimen as Callechelys melanotaenia (GVS75); fieldspecimen+photo, 60cmTL, on beach after cyclone, 2/2005 Richard's Story's brother, photo Ian Bertram with ID from NHT database as Callechelys catostomus.

References:
text p.56 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.44 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
plate 10-04 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....

Data Update History (information):
zTXmx, zB02, zM02

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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