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Leptoscarus vaigiensis

‘Ūmoemoe

Seagrass Parrotfish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Seagrass Parrotfish, Slender Parrotfish, Marbled Parrotfish, Petroleum Parrotfish; German Seegras-Papageifisch; French Perroquet des Herbiers, Perroquet Marbré

TRADITIONAL NAMES: ‘Ūmoemoe (RR), Pā U‘u-u‘u (MG), Ūmoemoe (AT MK AK); Other Polynesian - Tapio (TAH); COMMENT: MH JSB&CM as Tomore

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Easter; n. to s.Japan; s. to n.NZ (Poor Knights)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore, outer reef-slope; Lives in seaweed areas where it is well camouflaged.

KEY FEATURES: To 30cm SL, a unique parrotfish not undergoing a sex-reversal. Slender, depth 3.5x in SL; tail round; teeth partially fused into rows of dental plates. ADULTS mottled olive to brown, paler underside; fins mottled yellowish. FEMALE w/wo blue spots upperhalf. MALE with blue spots on body, head and fins; and a pale midside stripe.

Enlarged Image of 'Leptoscarus vaigiensis'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Leptoscarus vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824)
SYNONYMS: Scarus vaigiensis [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Labroidei; SCARIDAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -. Comment: NBSAP- Te Au-o-Tonga (3 of 8 wild animals)

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Cooks: Bruce & Randall 1985, Indo-Pacific Fishes v.5. Rarotonga: specimen male 18cm SL outer reef-slope ID N.Sims, photo confirmed J.E.Randall (Sims88). Aitutaki: field-specimen, NBSAP School, 12/2000, ID GM. Manihiki: A619-1specimen (B&M74).

References:
text p.193 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 105c Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.345 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.488 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 106-10 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 80-04 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 820 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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