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Cetoscarus bicolor

Mamaringa (MG)

Bicolor Parrotfish

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Terminal phase male, initial phase and juvenile	66KB
Image:	Male and female	51KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Bicolor Parrotfish, Two-coloured Parrotfish; German Masken-Papageifisch; French Perroquet Bicolore, Perroquet à Points Rouges

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Mamaringa (MG MH), Ū (AT), Māmāringa (MK), Vaiā / Pa‘opa‘o < Pa‘o < Māmāringa (AK), Kakatavake (PL), Koti (TS TW), Wūmoyo? / Wū Uluyauma (PK); Other Polynesian - Uhu Totoke (TAH)

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; In lagoons and outer reef-slopes to 30m. Adults often in harems on outer reef-slope. PLUS: ; Marine, near-shore, lagoons and outer reef-slope

KEY FEATURES: To 50cm SL, TP-Males are sex-reversed females. Oval, depth 2.5x in SL; snout long; tail concave; dental plates with nodular surface. IP brown, with yellow dorsal body (hence Bicolour Parrotfish); scales on sides and belly with black edges and spots; chin with black spots. TP-MALE green with pink spots on anterior half, pink curved-bars on scales on posterior half, pink stripe from mouth to Anal fin; pink stripe on inner Dorsal and Anal; and pink lines on tail. JUVENILE white with orange band around head and a black spot on the Dorsal fin.

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

Scientific Taxonomy

Cetoscarus bicolor (Rüppell, 1829)
SYNONYMS: Bolbometopon bicolor; Chlorurus bicolor; Scarus pulchellus [for t.p. male] [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Labroidei; SCARIDAE, Scarinae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004. Suwarrow: Photo ID N.Sims (Sims88 & EIA99).

References:
text p.193 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 105g Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.344 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.480 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 105-02 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 80-02 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 843 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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