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Scarus psittacus

Pakati (PL)

Palenose Parrotfish

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Image:	Terminal phase male, juvenile and initial phase	77KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Palenose Parrotfish, Yellow-sided Parrotfish, Big-belly Parrotfish, Princess Parrotfish; German Fahlnasen-Papageifisch; French Perroquet à Gros Ventre, Perroquet Mauve

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pakati < Koti (PL), Wū-manga [M] (PK); Other Polynesian - Paati Opu Tautau / Pahoro Hau / Paati Haavare (TAH), Hou ninamu / Nou (TAH-L)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Tuamotus, Hawai‘i; n. to s.Japan; s. to Lord Howe

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; N.Group only? Lagoons, reef-flats and reef-slopes to 25m. Common in mixed schools very open, rocky substrates. Sleeps at night in mucous cocoon. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, lagoon and outer reef-slope

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Poor - soft flesh.

KEY FEATURES: To 30cm SL. Lips mainly cover the dental plates; IP ±1 canine on upper dental plate, and TP has 2 canines on upper plate, and 1 on lower plate; TP tail is deeply emaginate INITIAL PHASE uniformly red-brown, ± pales blotches; with conspicuously pale head, hence the name Palenose Parrotfish. TERMINAL MALE mainly pale green to tan, with lavender face and blue bands over upper lip and extending back over cheek under the eye, with another band behind the eye and bands over lower lip and chin.

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

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 psittacus Forsskål, 1775
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Labroidei; SCARIDAE, Scarinae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Manihiki: field specimen ID N.Sims (Sims88). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen+photo, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Scarus psittacus.

References:
text p.196 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 110c Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.352 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.481 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 106-05 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 81-05 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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