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Chaetodon ornatissimus

Taputapu

Ornate Butterflyfish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Ornate Butterflyfish, Clown Butterflyfish, Ornate Butterflyfish; German Orangestreifen-Falterfisch; French Poisson-papillon Orné

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Taputapu (RR AT MT AK), Tītī (TS TW), Ponepone (MH), Tītī-taeyinu (PK); Other Polynesian - Paraharaha (TAH)

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; PLUS: S.Group and N.Group. Outer reef-slope.; Marine, near-shore

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Not eaten.

KEY FEATURES: To 20cm SL.

Enlarged Image of 'Chaetodon ornatissimus'

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		+++

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 ornatissimus Cuvier, 1831
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Percoidei; Percoidea; CHAETODONTIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Atiu: field-specimen, College collection, 10/2000, ID GMcC. Mauke: field specimen, College, 3/2001, ID GMcC. Palmerston: Photo30 (G&S85); Listed (Preston95). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Chaetodon ornatissimus. Suwarrow: Photo30 (G&S85).

References:
text p.155 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 64d Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.226 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.339 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 62-05 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 55-14 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 691 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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