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Diodon hystrix

Tōtara

Porcupinefish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Porcupinefish, Spotted Porcupinefish, Spot-fin Porcupinefish; German Gepunkteter Igelfisch; French Poisson Porc-épic, Poisson Armé, Porc-épique Boubou

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tōtara (RR MG AT MK MT AK TW), Totara (PL), Tōtala (TS PK); Other Polynesian - Totara (TAH)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE circumtropical incl. e.Africa - Easter, Hawai‘i - tropical America; n. to s.Japan; s. to n.NZ

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group and N.Group. Common. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, lagoons, reef-flats and outer reef-slope to 20+m; Feeds on mollusks, sea urchins, hermit crabs, and crabs.

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Favoured by some in South, requires careful prepar; Injurous spines - moderate

KEY FEATURES: To 80cm SL.

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		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

Diodon hystrix Linnaeus, 1758
SYNONYMS: Paradiodon hystrix

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Tetraodontiformes; Tetraodontoidei; Tetraodontoidea; DIODONTIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mangaia: specimen, College, 9/2000, ID GMcC. Aitutaki: field-specimen, NBSAP School, 12/2000, ID GM. Palmerston: Photo83 (G&S85); Listed (Preston95). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Diodon hystrix. Suwarrow: field ID N.Sims (Sims EIA99).

References:
text p.268 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 144e Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.479 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.653 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 175-06 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 104-14 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 1022 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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