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Cymolutes praetextatus

Knife Razorfish

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Image:	Adult - terminal phase male	21KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Knife Razorfish, Knifefish, Knife Wrasse; French Labre-rasoir à Demi Rayé

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Societies; n. to N.Marianas; s. to Norfolk

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore, lagoons in shallow water over sand.

KEY FEATURES: Moderately elongate, to 20cm; eyes on sides near the top of a long convex forehead. Drab olive-grey, with pale orange-yellow lateral stripe and a fine blue dorsolateral stripe; sometimes with dorsolateral brown bars and blotches. Dorsal Fin continuous, with black edge between the first two spines - in both sexes. Protruding canines.

Enlarged Image of 'Cymolutes praetextatus'

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

Cymolutes praetextatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
SYNONYMS: Julis praetextata

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

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: In sandy areas of reef-flats and shallow lagoons, to 6m. Often stationary just above the sand with body twisted into sinuous shape. Usually a wary fish, which burrows rapidly into the sand when disturbed. Feeds on small invertebrates.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
text p.180 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 92e Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.314 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
plate 93-05 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 79-13 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....

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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