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Scarus forsteni

Vaiā (AK)

Rainbow Parrotfish

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Image:	Male and female	54KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Rainbow Parrotfish, Whitespot Parrotfish, Forsten's Parrotfish, Princess Parrotfish; German Regenbogen-Papageifisch; French Perroquet Bigarré, Perroquet Mauve

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pa‘o < Pakati (RR), Ū Kiva (AT), U‘u (MT), Pakati < Koti (PL), Koti (TS TW), name? (PK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Indonesia - Pitcairn; n. to s.Japan; s. to New Caledonia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group and N.Group. Common. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Favoured. Common.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Scarus forsteni (Bleeker, 1861)
SYNONYMS: Pseudoscarus forsteni [O]

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

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mangaia: specimens IP & TP, NBSAP 9/2000, MMR staff & GM. Atiu: field-specimen+photo, College collection, 10/2000, ID GMcC. Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Manihiki: A958-2specimens, as Scarus aeruginosus (B&M74). Suwarrow: field ID N.Sims (Sims EIA99).

References:
text p.195 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 108a Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.348 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
plate 109-06 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 82-04 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02

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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