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Cheilio inermis

Kavakava

Cigar Wrasse

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Cigar Wrasse, Sharp-nosed Wrasse; German Zigarren-Lippfisch; French Labre Cigare, Longue Girelle

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kavakava (RR AT), Pa‘o (MG), Pātakotako (TS TW); Other Polynesian - Poou Avaava (TAH)

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group. (MG) PLUS:; Marine, near-shore

KEY FEATURES: To 45cm SL. Cylindrical very elongate body (depth 7x in SL) with round tail. IP FEMALES (and possibly IP males) colour variable; often green upperhalf, pale lowerhalf; with broken midside black stripe; sometimes uniformly yellow. OLDER MALES uniformly grey to tan, with a large irregular orange or pink patch behind the Pectoral Fins on upperbody.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

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

Cheilio inermis (Forsskål, 1775)
SYNONYMS: Labrus inermis [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Labroidei; LABRIDAE, Cheilio. COMMENT: Possibly should be in ODACIDAE, a wrasse-like family of Australia and New Zealand.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldsightings, Muri Lagoon, several, 2000, GMcC. Mangaia: Photo (Clerk81).

References:
text p.184 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 95g Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.305 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.451 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 101-01 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 74-01 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 781 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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