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Myrichthys colubrinus

Pīpīkōiro (AK)

Banded Snake-Eel

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult	16KB
Article:	Are there snakes in the Cook Islands? Gerald McCormack, October 2005	Read

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Banded Snake-Eel, Harlequin Snake-Eel, Barred Snake-Eel; German Ringel-Schlangenaal; French Anguille-serpent à Bandes

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pīpīkōiro (AK), Pui (PK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Societies; n. to s.Japan; s. to GBR

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; SW. PLUS: SW (Simms); Marine, near-shore

Enlarged Image of 'Myrichthys colubrinus'

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		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

Myrichthys colubrinus (Boddaert, 1781)
SYNONYMS: Chlevastes colubrinus; Muraena colubrina [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Anguilliformes; Congroideii; OPHICHTHIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 3/2004. K.Salisbury with ID as Myrichthys colubrinus. Suwarrow: specimen (42cm S.L.) N.Sims, ID J.E.Randall (Sims EIA99).

References:
text p.56 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 11c Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.45 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.61 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 8-09 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 9-07 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 130 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

Data Update History (information):
zTXmx, zB02, zM02

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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