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Brotula multibarbata

Reef Cusk-eel

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Image:	Adult on a plate (b&w photo)	66KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Reef Cusk-eel, Whiskered Brotula, Barbelled Eel-pout, Multi-barbed False-Eel, Goatsbeard Brotula; French Fause Anguille, Brotule

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Indonesia - s.Japan - Lord Howe - Mangareva - Hawai‘i

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Lagoon and outer reef-slopes, shallows to 200m. Hides during the day and hunts small fishes and invertebrates at night. The single Cook Islands specimen (40cm) caught in a cave at 3m on outer reef-slo; Marine, near-shore, outer reef-slope & lagoons

KEY FEATURES: To 50cm, uniform dark brown, Dorsal Fin with white edge and submarginal black band; dorsal, caudal and Anal fins without spines, continuous as in an eel; Pectoral Fins round; Ventral fins thread-like; body slimy with small scales. Large mouth with small teeth, and with 6 upper and 6 lower barbels.

Enlarged Image of 'Brotula multibarbata'

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

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

Brotula multibarbata Temminck & Schlegel, 1846
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Siluriformes; OPHIDIIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: Faimou Pupuke 9/1990 outer reef-slope, Nikao; specimen lost, ID from CINews photos by GMcC-01/99.

References:
p.80 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 9-03 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 12-19 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 880 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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