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Carcharhinus melanopterus

Mangō Tea

Blacktip Reef-Shark

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Blacktip Reef-Shark, Reef Blacktip Shark, Blackfin Reef-Shark, Blackfinned Shark, Blacktip Shark; German Schwarzspitzenhai; French Requin à Pointes Noires

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Mangō Tea (RR), Mangō Sina (TS TW), Mango Tea (MH), Lōkie / Mangō Kena (PK); Other Polynesian - Mao Mauri (TAH), Ootea (TAH-L), Vaki (TUA), Mano (MQA); COMMENT: Penrhyn: any young shark to 1m = Okeoke

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE circumtropical, incl. e.Africa - Tuamotus, Hawai‘i; n. to s.Japan; s. to New Caledonia - Tonga

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Common on reef-flat lagoon, outer reef and atoll lagoons in N.Group Cooks and PL; rare in S.Group. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, lagoons, reef-flats and outer slope

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Injurous bite - serious

KEY FEATURES: To 1.8m TL.(RM91) [ 1.8cm - GBR]

Enlarged Image of 'Carcharhinus melanopterus'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Scientific Taxonomy

Carcharhinus melanopterus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
SYNONYMS: Carcharias melanopterus [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; CHONDRICHTHYES; Carcharhiniformes; CARCHARHINIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Cooks: listed (Johnson78); Compagno 1984, Vol. 4 Sharks... FAO Fish. Synop. 4(125)Pt.2. Manihiki: 1 specimen #A761 (B&M74). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Carcharhinus melanopterus. Suwarrow:field ID (Sims EIA99).

References:
Special Reference: Compagno 1984, Vol. 4 Sharks... FAO Fish. Synop. 4(125)Pt.2.

text p.37 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 7f Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.20 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.40 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 2-01 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 2-11 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....

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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