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Strongylura incisa

‘Aku

Reef Needlefish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Reef Needlefish, Large-scaled Long-tom; French Orphie de Récif

TRADITIONAL NAMES: ‘Aku (RR), Akuaku < Aku (AT), Aku (TS TW), Hakuhaku (MH), Aku-tangata (PK); COMMENT: Pāpā is an oceanic fish, not lagoonal.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Maldives - Fr.Polynesia; n. to s.Japan; s. to New Caledonia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; MH, TN. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore

KEY FEATURES: Lacks the lateral tail-stalk keels of the Crocodile Needlefish.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group:
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

Strongylura incisa (Valenciennes, 1846)
SYNONYMS: Belone anastomella [mistaken]; Belone incisa [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Beloniformes; Belonoidei; Scomberesocoidea; BELONIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004.

References:
text p.71a Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.497 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.100 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 10-7 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
Species No. 158 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

Data Update History (information):
zTXmx, 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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