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Oxycheilinus digrammus

Bandcheek Wrasse

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Bandcheek Wrasse, Bandcheek Maori Wrasse, Cheeklined Wrasse; French Vieille à Lignes Violettes

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kautōtonu (TS TW)

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; N.Group. (PN) Rare. PLUS: Single specimen photo (Sims); Marine, near-shore, lagoon

KEY FEATURES: To 26cm SL. Slender, depth 3x in SL; lower jaw lage and protruding; tail slightly rounded. Little change with age or sex. Can change colour and is commonly olive to grey-green with dark bar on each scale; lower half orange-brown; face grey-green irregular orange stipes dorsally, and ~8 diagonal bars on cheeks.

Enlarged Image of 'Oxycheilinus digrammus'

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

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

Oxycheilinus digrammus (Lacepède, 1801)
SYNONYMS: Cheilinus digrammus; Cheilinus diagrammus [common misspelling]; Labrus digramma [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Labroidei; LABRIDAE, Cheilinini. COMMENT: SciName J.E.Randall pers.comm. 3/2000, not Eschmeyer.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Tongareva: Photo lagoon ID N.Sims, confirmed J.E.Randall (Sims88).

References:
text p.178 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 90c Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.302 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.432 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 92-06 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 71-07 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 777 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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