General Information

COMMON NAMES: Whitetail Bristletooth TRADITIONAL NAMES: Maito (RR AT MK MT PL TS TW), Api (MG), Tiko‘omi (AK) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Cooks - Pitcairn; n. to Northern Line, s. to Rapa COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Endemic of se.Polynesia; S.Group and N.Group. Uncommon. (RR, PL, PN); Marine, near-shore, outer reef-slope to 15m KEY FEATURES: Small orange brown with white tail, to 12cm. Pale yellow spots on head and forward body, and narrow pale blue stripes on body extending onto Dorsal and Anal; the latter each with blue edge. White of tail starts abuptly on tail-base. Juvenile yellow, changing at 4-6cm. SIMILAR SPECIES: Yellow JUVENILE confused with Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens, Japan - Hawaii, and NOT recorded in the Cook Islands or South Pacific); Yellow Tang has very high Dorsal and Anal Fins ROUNDED POSTERIORLY (vs. moderately high POINTED POSTERIORLY); white around tail-spine (vs. yellow)

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

Ctenochaetus flavicauda Fowler, 1938
SYNONYMS: Ctenochaetus strigosus [of authors]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Acanthuroidei; ACANTHURIDAE, Acanthurinae

IDENTIFICATION: Oval fish to 12cm SL with many bristle-like teeth. JUVENILE uniformly yellow or bown with white tail, change between 4 to 6cm. ADULT head and anterior body orange brown with small yellow spots; body with very narrow orange-brown stripes alternating with narrow blue-grey stripes, Dorsal and Anal similar with blue edge. Eye with rim yellow. Posterior tail-stalk and tail white (name flavicauda, yellow-tail, is inappropriate, but is maintained).

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: Photo juvenile 18m depth off Nikao, ID J.E.Randall (Sims88); field ID juv. w. white tail, 3/2000 ID GM. Atiu: field-specimen, College collection, 10/2000, ID GMcC. Palmerston: Photo74 as Acanthurus sp. (G&S85), reID J.E.Randall (Sims88); Listed (Preston95). Tongareva: juv. w. white tail, photo H.Debelius ?1998 (pers.comm.). Pukapuka: specimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Ctenochaetus flavicauda, to BPBM with ID confirmed J.Randall, 5/2004.

References:
Special Reference: Randall & Clements (2001) Second Revision of the Surgeonfish Genus Ctenochaetus (Perciformes: Acanthuridae) with descriptions of two new speices. Indo-Pacific Fishes No.32, 33pp.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

• Google
• Google Images
• FishBase