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Thalassoma lutescens

Karore

Sunset Wrasse

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Image:	Female and male	37KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Sunset Wrasse, Surge Wrasse, Yellow Wrasse, Yellow-brown Wrasse; German Kanarien-Junker; French Girelle Paon Jaune

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Karore (RR MG AT MK MT AK), Baby's-fish (PL), Pātakotako (TS TW MH RK PK NS)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Sri Lanka - Ducie, Hawai‘i - Panama; n. to s.Japan; s. to Lord Howe - Kermadecs - Rapa

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group and N.Group. Very common. PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, lagoons, reef-flats and outer reef-slopes to 30+m

KEY FEATURES: To 25cm SL.

Enlarged Image of 'Thalassoma lutescens'

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		+++

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

Thalassoma lutescens (Lay & Bennett, 1839)
SYNONYMS: Julis lutescens [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Labroidei; LABRIDAE, Julidini

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mangaia: specimen, College, 9/2000, ID GMcC; Taratara, Keia District, small reef-pool, clear water - no current or vegetation, 27m from shore 0-1m, CAS73103 (DSM58). Aitutaki: field-specimen, NBSAP School, 12/2000, ID GM; fieldsight, lagoon, 12/2000, GMcC. Palmerston: Photo52 (G&S85) a female (GMc); Photo54, as Halichoeres trimaculatus (G&S85), reID Randall to young Thalassoma lutescens (Sims88). Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Thalassoma lutescens. Suwarrow: Photo52 (G&S85), a female (GMc).

References:
text p.189 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 102f Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.338 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.467 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 103-05 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 78-05 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. p408 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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