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Scarus altipinnis

Vaiā (AK)

Filament-fin Parrotfish

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Terminal phase male, juvenile and initial phase	70KB
Image:	Initial phase	45KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Filament-fin Parrotfish, Minifin Parrotfish, Meadow Parrotfish, Ocean Parrotfish, Green-beak Parrotfish; German Wimpelflossen-Papageifisch; French Perroquet à Filament

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ū (AT), Vaiā / ‘Aumauri (AK), Black Show < Blue Show (PL), Sau Moana (TS TW), Wū Vavana [M] / Wū Niokila [F] (PK); Other Polynesian - Uhu Opara Ninamu (TAH), Kutu (TUA), Karuiri (MVA)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE PNG - Ducie; n. to s.Japan; s. to Lord Howe - Rapa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Subadults prefer shallow reef flat waters, while adults prefer deeper forereef waters to 50+m. PLUS: ; Marine, near-shore, Shallow lagoons, reef-flats and outer reef-slopes

KEY FEATURES: To 60cm SL. Both phases with exposed dark green teeth; Dosal Fin has a central filament and the forward half is conspicuously higher than the rest. IP mottled or banded dark red-brown, with ~10 small white spots on sides. TP body green, w/wo pale midbody bar; head orange, with strong blue-green bands - 1 on snout and 2 on chin; Dorsal green with some dark red and dark yellow; Anal green with orange stripe with green spots.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The only parrotfish with a filament on the dorsal fin.

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

Scarus altipinnis (Steindachner, 1879)
SYNONYMS: Pseudoscarus altipinnis [O];

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Labroidei; SCARIDAE, Scarinae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Aitutaki: field-specimen-TP, NBSAP School, 12/2000, ID GM; fieldsight-TP+IP, lagoon+outerslope, 12/2000, GMcC. Palmerston: Photo60 i.p. misID as Scarus chlorodon, Photo64 t.p. misID as Scarops rubroviolaceus (G&S85); Listed (Preston95). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Scarus altipinnis. Suwarrow: field ID N.Sims (Sims EIA99).

References:
text p.194 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 106d Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.345 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
plate 108-02 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 82-01 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....

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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