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Blenniella periophthalmus

Panako

Blue-dashed Rockskipper

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Blue-dashed Rockskipper, Bullethead Rockskipper, Blue-streaked Blenny; German Kugelkopf-Kammzähner; French Blennie Teintée de Bleu

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Panako (RR AK), Panako Akau (MG), Kanako (AT MK), Kaniko (MT), Kalaea Panako (TS), Karaea Panako (TW)

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; PLUS: Recorded MH (B&M); Marine, near-shore; Often seen with only its head protruding from small holes, in the shallow reef-flat and on coral-pinnacles. Feed on very fine seaweeds and small invertebrates.

KEY FEATURES: A small elongate to 15cm S.L. The face is vertical with a big-lipped mouth below and bulbous eyes and two slender filaments on top. Pale green-grey body with 8 dark bands shaped like a broad-barred H, with two silvery to pale blue horizontal strips at the top and bottom of 4-5 cross-bars.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The dark broad-barred H-bands with the two pale stripes are very distinctive.

Enlarged Image of 'Blenniella periophthalmus'

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

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

Blenniella periophthalmus (Valenciennes, 1836)
SYNONYMS: Alticops periophthalmus; Istiblennius periophthalmus; Istiblennius paulus [w.Pacific colour form]; Salarias periophthalmus [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Blennioidei; BLENNIIDAE. COMMENT: SciName J.E.Randall pers.comm. 3/2000, not Eschmeyer.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mangaia: Teanaturaºa Tawaºena District, pool nearshore in lagoon, 0-1m, CAS68054 (DSM58). Manihiki: A781-10specimens, A958-10, as Istiblennius paulus (B&M74). Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004.

References:
text p.212 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.385 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.534 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 117-13 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
Species No. 873 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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