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Chaetodon ephippium

Taputapu

Saddled Butterflyfish

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult (Rarotonga)	32KB
Image:	Adult with Sunset Wrasse (Rarotonga)	36KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Saddled Butterflyfish, Blackbotch Butterflyfish, Saddleback Butterflyfish; German Sattelfleck-Falterfisch; French Papillon à Selle Noire

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Taputapu (RR AT MK MT AK PL), Ti‘iti‘i (MG), Tītī (TS TW), Tihitihi / Ponaturoa?? (MH), Tihitihi (RK), Yama / Yamayama (PK); Other Polynesian - Paraharaha (TAH); COMMENT: MH JSB&CM as Ponaturoa

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Sri Lanka - Tuamotus, Hawai‘i; n. to s.Japan; s. to New Caledonia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; PLUS: N.Group and PL.; Marine, near-shore

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Rarely eaten

KEY FEATURES: To 25cm SL.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Chaetodon ephippium Cuvier, 1831
SYNONYMS: Chaetodon principalis [earlier synonym, Allen80]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Percoidei; Percoidea; CHAETODONTIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Aitutaki: field-specimen, NBSAP School, 12/2000, ID GM. Palmerston: Photo28 (G&S85); Listed (Preston95). Manihiki: A959-1specimen, A781-2,A676-1,A687h-1,A761-1 (B&M74). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Chaetodon ephippium. Suwarrow: Photo28 (G&S85).

References:
text p.154 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 62f Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.222 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.345 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 63-01 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 55-08 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 684 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM06a, 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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