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Chlorurus pyrrhurus

U‘u Kura (MK)

Redtail Parrotfish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Redtail Parrotfish; German Rotschwanz-Papageifisch; French Perroquet à Queu Rouge

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ū Kiva (AT), U‘u Kura (MK MT), Pakati < Koti (PL), name? (PK)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Indonesia - Samoa - Cooks?; n. to s.Japan

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group. (PL) PLUS: PL (Anon88), ID not confirmed.; Marine, near-shore

KEY FEATURES: To 28cm SL. Strongly rounded snout, exposed dental plates, and a truncate tail (IP) or slightly lobed (TP). IP dark brown, like Scarus sordidus, but with orange-red tail (hence, Redtail Parrotfish). TP-MALE dark brown with tan to yellowish cheeks and posterior body; blue-green bands radiating from the eye - 3 posteriorly and 2 anteriorly, lower anterior band joins blue band on upper lip and blue band on chin; Dorsal and Anal fins vivid blue with central orange stripe.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Pale Bullethead Parrotfish (Chlorurus japanensis) IP is very similar

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Chlorurus pyrrhurus (Jordan & Seale, 1906)
SYNONYMS: Callyodon pyrrhurus [O]; Scarus pyrrhurus

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

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Atiu: field-specimen+photo, College collection, 10/2000, ID GMcC. Palmerston: Listed as Scarus pyrrhurus? (Preston95).

References:
text p.196 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.353 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
plate 109-08 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 82-08 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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