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Mus musculus

Kiore

House Mouse

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: House Mouse, Mouse, Linne's House Mouse; German Hausmaus

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kiore (RR AT MK MT AK); Other Polynesian - ‘Iole / ‘Iole li‘ili‘i (HAW, 'rat' / 'little-rat'); COMMENT: The name Kiore is widely used to denote any mouse or rat.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE western Europe (southern Denmark to Black Sea); EXOTIC EXOTIC global

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Pest - moderate (domestic)

SIMILAR SPECIES: Mus musculus (Linne's House Mouse) is the usual name provided for the common house mouse, and is the common laboratory mouse. However it is now recognised that Linne's Mouse is the mouse of northern Europe, while Mus domesticus is the house mouse of central Europe. It is likely that the latter species was introduced on ships into the Pacific. Until more genetic information we will continue to refer our mouse to Mus musculus.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++		+	-				-	-

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

Mus musculus Linnaeus, 1758
SYNONYMS: Mus domesticus

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; MAMMALIA; THERIA; EUTHERIA; Rodentia; MURIDAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Pest - moderate (domestic). Comments: One of world's 100 invasive alien species [ISSG,2001].

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM06a

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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