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Kyphosus bigibbus

Nanuē

Insular Rudderfish

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult (Rarotonga)	40KB
Image:	Dark colour morph (Rarotonga)	38KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Insular Rudderfish, Brown Chub, Grey Chub; French Petit Wiwa

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Nanuē / Pipi < Nanuē (RR), Raupipi < Tiotio < Nanue-morava (MG), Tiotio < Tio < Nanue (AT), Tio Pipi < Tio < Tio Nanue < Nanue (MK), Nanue / Tio < Nanue < Nanue Paka (MT), Nanue / Pipi (PL), Nanuē (TS TW)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Marquesas; n. to s.Japan; s. to Kermadecs - Rapa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Feeds on seaweeds PLUS: ; Marine, near-shore

KEY FEATURES: To 70cm SL. Wide-oval with large symmetrical tail, Dorsal similar height throughout. Silvery-grey, with pale stripe below Dorsal posteriorly, and pale bar across forehead, and below each eye; sides with narrow darker stripes; fins silver-grey; can display with irregular pale blotches anterodorsal area. Dorsal X-XI,11-13; gill rakers 7-9+18-20=25-27.

SIMILAR SPECIES: See Highfin Rudderfish (Kyphosus cinerascens).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
P	^P	^^P	^P			P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

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

Kyphosus bigibbus Lacepède, 1801
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Percoidei; Percoidea; KYPHOSIDAE, Kyphosinae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimens speared FAD R.Storey, ID N.Sims, to BPBM, confirmed Randall (Sims88); field-ID se.lagoon 3/99 GMc. Mangaia: specimen, College, 9/2000, ID GMcC. Atiu: field-specimen, College collection, 10/2000, ID GMcC. Mauke: fieldspecimen, College, 3/2001, ID GMcC. Palmerston: Listed (Preston95).

References:
text p.151 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 60b Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 53-12 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.
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