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Pygoplites diacanthus

Regal Angelfish

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult (SW Pacific) and Juvenile (Samoa)	36KB
Video:	Suwarrow (© G.Wragg)	587KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Regal Angelfish, Royal Angelfish; German Pfauen-Kaiserfisch; French Holacanthe Duc, Ange Royal, Poisson-ange Duc

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

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; PLUS: S.Group, rare; N.Group uncommon. In deeper lagoons and outer reef-slope to 30m.; Marine, near-shore

KEY FEATURES: To 21cm SL.(RM91) [ 26cm - GBR]

Enlarged Image of 'Pygoplites diacanthus'

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		++

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

Pygoplites diacanthus (Boddaert, 1772)
SYNONYMS: Chaetodon diacanthus [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Percoidei; Percoidea; POMACANTHIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Pygoplites diacanthus. Suwarrow: Photo43 (G&S85).

References:
text p.162 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 72b Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.246 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.361 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 72-01 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 59-11 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 708 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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