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Naso brevirostris

Ume Kō

Spotted Unicornfish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Spotted Unicornfish, Short-nosed Unicornfish, Brown Unicornfish, Shortnosed Unicorn Tang; German Schärpen-Nasendoktor; French Nason à Rostre Court, Licorne, Nason Pointillé

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ume Kō (RR), Umeume < Ume < Poko-toki (AT), Ume (MT PL TS TW), Umeume (AK), Ume Akura (MH), Ume Tao (PK); Other Polynesian - Tatihi (TAH), Taakiki / Rutukea (MQA)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Ducie, Hawai‘i; n. to s.Japan; s. to Lord Howe

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group and N.Group. Uncommon. (RR, MH, RK, SW) PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, Mid-water outer reef-slope below 10m

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Indicator of Koperu schools.; Injurous spines - moderate

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Naso brevirostris (Valenciennes, 1835)
SYNONYMS: Naseus brevirostris [O][also of Cuvier, 1829]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Acanthuroidei; ACANTHURIDAE, Nasinae. COMMENT: $Naseus brevirostris@ Cuvier 1829 is also valid for $Naso brevirostris@. It is unclear why the authority is given to Valenciennes 1835.[GM&FS99]

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: field specimens ID N.Sims (Sims88). Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Manihiki: field specimens ID N.Sims (Sims88). Rakahanga: field sightings ID N.Sims (Sims88). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Naso brevirostris. Suwarrow: field sightings, ID N.Sims (Sims88 & EIA99).

References:
text p.250 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 130f Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.430 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.590 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 128-06 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 94-11 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 913 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

Data Update History (information):
zTX, 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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