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Naso unicornis

Ume Toro

Bluespine Unicornfish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Bluespine Unicornfish, Unicorn Tang, Unicornfish, Brown Unicornfish; German Blauklingen-Nasendoktor; French Nason Brun, Nason à Éperons Bleus, Licorne

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ume Toro (RR), Umeume < Ume (MG MK), Umeume < Ume < Poko-toki (AT), Ume (MT PL TS TW), Ume / Umeume < Ume (AK), Ume Tao (PK); Other Polynesian - Ume (TAH), Ume Paa (TAH-L), Ume Tahiti (MQA)

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group and N.Group. Mod.Common. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, Shallow lagoon, reef-flat and outer reef-slope to 10m

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Prized food; Injurous spines - moderate

KEY FEATURES: To 60cm SL.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
	^P	^P	^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 unicornis (Forsskål, 1775)
SYNONYMS: Acanthurus unicornis; Chaetodon unicornis [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Acanthuroidei; ACANTHURIDAE, Nasinae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mangaia: specimen, College, 9/2000, ID GMcC. Atiu: field-specimen, College collection, 10/2000, ID GMcC. Mauke: fieldspecimen, College, 3/2001, ID GMcC. Aitutaki: field-specimen, NBSAP School, 12/2000, ID GM; fieldsight, lagoon, 12/2000, GMcC. Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Naso unicornis. Suwarrow: field ID N.Sims (Sims EIA99).

References:
text p.250 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 131d Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.432 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.591 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 128-03 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 94-13 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 912 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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