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Plotosus lineatus

Catfish (PL)

Striped Catfish

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Image:	Adults - Norfolk Island	64KB
Image:	School of Adults	70KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Striped Catfish, Striped Eel-Catfish, Oriental Catfish, Striped Eel-Catfish, Coral Catfish; German Gestreifter Korallenwels; French Poisson-chat Rayé

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Catfish (PL)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Samoa - Cooks; n. to s.Korea; s. to Lord Howe

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; A single specimen from PL, 1988 was probably this species; otherwise known eastward in the Pacific to Samoa. Adults are noctural and solitary, while the juveniles often swarm in tight clusters; Marine, near-shore

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Venomous sting

KEY FEATURES: To 30cm, elongate with four pairs of barbels around the mouth. First Dorsal Fin is short and has a venomous spine. Second dorsal, tail and Anal fins are continuous, forming an eel-like tail - hence the family name Eeltail Catfishes. Adult dark brown above and paler below; juveniles dark above and white below with two sharply delineated white stripes on each side.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

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

Plotosus lineatus (Thünberg, 1787)
SYNONYMS: Platystacus anguillaris; Plotosus anguillaris; Silurus lineatus [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Siluriformes; PLOTOSIDAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Venomous sting. Comments: Can inflict a painful sting with a sharp spine in front of the dorsal and pectoral fins. Venom cells are located along the margins of the sting. Pain is immediate; soak with non-scalding hot water.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Palmerston: reported (Preston95).

References:
text p.59 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 11f Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.48 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
plate 9-01 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 11-05 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 97 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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