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Naso vlamingii

Ume Moana

Bignose Unicornfish

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Image:	Adult Adult	49KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Bignose Unicornfish, Vlaming's Unicornfish, Zebra Unicornfish; German Masken-Nasendoktor; French Nason Zébré, Nason à Lignes Violettes, Nason à Gros Nez

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ume Moana (RR), Umeume < Ume < Poko-toki (AT), Umeume < Ume (MK), Ume (MT PL), Umeume (AK), Umemari (MH), Ume Tala / Ume-ave (PK); Other Polynesian - Karaua (TAH)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Tuamotus; n. to s.Japan; s. to s.GBR - New Caledonia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group, uncommon; N.Group, common. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, Midwater and outer reef-slope below 10m

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Injurous spines - moderate

KEY FEATURES: display colour repeated flashes bright yellow & purple lines about head & median fins.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
	P		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 vlamingii (Valenciennes, 1835)
SYNONYMS: Naseus vlamingii [O]

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

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Manihiki: specimen juvenile SL 125mm lagoon 5m depth ID N.Sims, to BPBM, confirmed J.E.Randall (Sims88). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Naso vlamingii. Suwarrow: school +/-30 indiv. off drop-off, ID N.Sims (Sims EIA99).

References:
text p.250 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 131e Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.432 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.590 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 128-02 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 93-09 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 910 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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