Cook Islands Biodiversity Database

Species Page

Back to: «« Search Page | « Results Page

Add to My List

Forcipiger flavissimus

Taputapu

Longnose Butterflyfish

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult (Rarotonga)	33KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Longnose Butterflyfish, Forcepsfish, Longbill, Big Long-nosed Butterflyfish, Longnose Butterflyfish, Long-nosed Butterflyfish; German Röhrenmaul-Pinzettfisch; French Poisson-pincette Jaune, Papillon Longnez

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Taputapu (RR AT MT AK), Tītī (TS TW); Other Polynesian - Paraha Uturoa (TAH)

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; PLUS: S.Group and N.Group.; Marine, near-shore, seaward reef-slope, lagoon; In lagoons, but most common on seaward reef-slopes to 100m. Feeds on small crustaceans, fish eggs etc as well as pulling tube feed off urchins and tentacles off worms.

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Not eaten.

KEY FEATURES: To 20cm SL. A yellow fish, upper half of the head black, ± white forehead, and lower half of head white, extending uniformly back onto the chest. Snout length equals distance from base of snout to hind edge of eye, and snout is distinctly open at the tip.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Forcipiger longirostris differs in: dark spots on the chest; snout 1.5x the distance between the base of the snout and the hind edge of the eye; an almost completely closed mouth; and 10-11 dorsal spines.

Enlarged Image of 'Forcipiger flavissimus'

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

Forcipiger flavissimus Jordan & McGregor, 1898
SYNONYMS: [Forcipiger longirostris; mistakenly G&S85 on SW]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Percoidei; Percoidea; CHAETODONTIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Palmerston: Photo37 as Forcipiger longirostris (G&S85), re-ID Randall (Sims88 & EIA99); Listed (Preston95). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Forcipiger flavissimus. Suwarrow: Photo37 as Forcipiger longirostris (G&S85), re-ID Randall (Sims88 & EIA99).

References:
text p.157 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 67b Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.232 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.351 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 65-01 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 56-09 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....

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.
Please refer to our use policy.

Biodiversity Database: More Options | Help

My List: View List | Edit List | Clear List