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Epinephelus areolatus

Areolate Grouper

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Image:	Adult specimen (Aitutaki)	25KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Areolate Grouper, Squaretail Grouper, Squaretail Rockcod, Areolate Rockcod; German Polygon-Wabenbarsch; French Mérou ou Loche Auréolée

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Talāo? / Wonu Talāo? (PK)

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - AK. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore; on fine-sediment bottoms near coral heads

KEY FEATURES: A brown-spotted grouper to 40cm.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Brownspotted Grouper (Epinephelus chlorostigma), which is not recorded in the Cook Islands, but is known in Samoa. Spots of Brownspotted are less than half the pupil-diameter, and separated by a mere line on head, upper body, dorsal fin and tail; it also reaches 75cm SL. Both have yellow band on tail-tip.

Enlarged Image of 'Epinephelus areolatus'

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
			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

Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskål, 1775)
SYNONYMS: Perca areolata [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Percoidei; Percoidea; SERRANIDAE, Epinephelinae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Aitutaki: photo & ID P.Mead (Sims88). Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004.

References:
p.105 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.190 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 28-07 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 23-03 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 483 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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