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Synanceia verrucosa

No‘u

Stonefish

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Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult	55KB
Image:	Adult, Rarotonga	30KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Stonefish, Reef Stonefish, Stone fish, Stonefish; German Echter Steinfisch; French Poisson-pierre

TRADITIONAL NAMES: No‘u (RR MG MK MT AK PL), Nou (AT), Nohu (TS TW), Nohu-pōhatu (MH RK), Nou Watu (PK NS); Other Polynesian - Nohu (TAH), Punga Punga (TUA), Nou (MVA)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Societies; n. to Japan; s. to GBR

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

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Medicine; Poisonous spines - very serious

KEY FEATURES: To 35cm SL.(RM91) [ 35cm - GBR]

Cook Islands Distribution

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

Northern Group:
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

Pests & Hosts

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Relationship	Hosts
Venomous - spines	Homo sapiens,

Scientific Taxonomy

Synanceia verrucosa Bloch and Schneider, 1801
SYNONYMS: Synanceja verrucosa [misspelling]; Synanceichthys verrucosus

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Scorpaeniformes; Scorpaenoidei; SCORPAENIDAE, Synanceiinae

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Medicine. Comments: Fluid from gall bladder used to treat fresh spine wounds, causing a rapid reduction of pain (Aitutaki, Tango Herman, ~1990s)
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Poisonous spines - very serious

GENERAL NOTE: The Stonefish sting is much more painful and serious than the other scorpionfishes. It should be treated with hot water at as high a temperature as tolerable without further damaging the tissues. Each wound can be injected with 0.5ml of emertine hydrochoride (1g per ml) which is antagonistic against the venom.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: photo, lagoon, D.Drumm, 1999, ID GM. Mangaia: recorded as Synanceichthys verrucosa (Clerk81) Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004.

References:
text p.97 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 22f Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.85 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.158 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 19-07 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 18-19 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 1013 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

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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