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Chaetodon lunula

Taputapu

Racoon Butterflyfish

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult (Rarotonga)	52KB
Image:	Adult feeding on coral (Rarotonga)	66KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Racoon Butterflyfish, Half-moon Butterflyfish, Moon Butterflyfish, Raccoon Butterflyfish [Am. English], Racoon Butterflyfish [Br. English]; German Mondsichel-Falterfisch; French Chaetodon à Raies Rouges, Raton Lavier, Chaetodon à Croissant

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Taputapu (RR AT MK MT AK PL), Ti‘iti‘i (MG), Tītī (TS TW), Tihitihi (MH RK), Ponepone (PK); Other Polynesian - Paraharaha (TAH)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Ducie, Hawai‘i; n. to s.Japan; s. to Lord Howe - Rapa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - common; N.Group - common; Marine, near-shore

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Rarely eaten

KEY FEATURES: To 20cm SL.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Chaetodon lunula (Lacepède, 1802)
SYNONYMS: Pomacentrus lunula Lacepède, 1802

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

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mauke: field specimen, College, 3/2001, ID GMcC. Aitutaki: field-specimen, NBSAP School, 12/2000, ID GM; fieldsight, lagoon, 12/2000, GMcC. Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Chaetodon lunula. Suwarrow: field ID N.Sims (Sims EIA99).

References:
text p.154 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 63d Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.224 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.340 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 59-01 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 55-13 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. p360 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

Data Update History (information):
zTXmx, 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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