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Upeneus vittatus

Rākoa (AK)

Yellowband Goatfish

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Yellowband Goatfish, Band-tailed Goatfish, Bar-tailed Goatfish; German Gelbstreifen-Barbe; French Barbet Rayé, Poisson-chèvre à Queue Rayée, Rouget-souris Orangé

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ka‘uru (AT MT), Rākoa (AK TW), Lākoa (TS), Kawute-memea (PK); Other Polynesian - Faia (TAH)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Marquesas, Hawai‘i; n. to s.Japan; s. to New Caledonia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; PLUS: S.Group and N.Group. Rare. SW and RR (Sims, observation).; Marine, near-shore, reef-flats and lagoons, over sand to silt

KEY FEATURES: To 30cm. Pale grey-blue, 4 orange-yellow stripes. Dorsals with 2-3 black stripes, Pectorals, Pelvics and Anal clear; Tail with diagonal black bars, 2-4 on lowerlobe and 4-5 on upperlobe.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Bandtail Goatfish (Upeneus arge) has 5-6 bars on tail lowerlobe (vs.2-4), and Gill Rakers 5-7+14-17 (vs.6-9+16-22).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Upeneus vittatus (Forsskål, 1775)
SYNONYMS: Mullus vittatus [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Perciformes; Percoidei; Percoidea; MULLIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Manihiki: A963-1specimen, as Upeneus arge (B&M74). Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004. Suwarrow: field ID Llagoon N.Sims (Sims88 & EIA99).

References:
text p.150 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 150d Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.314 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 55-05 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 52-13 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 623 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

Data Update History (information):
zTXmx, zB02, zM02, zupM06a, 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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