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Beryx decadactylus

Alfonsino

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Specimen (Cook Islands)	90KB
Image:	Richard Story with his Aitutaki specimen	71KB
Image:	Compare Beryx splendens	34KB
Image:	Specimen (Hawai‘i)	43KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Alfonsino, Alfonsin; French Beryx commun

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Circumtropical (except ne.Pacific)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - present; N.Group - probably; Marine, pelagic (at night), below 200m; deep-bottom moving upward at night

KEY FEATURES: To 60cmSL, commonly to 35cmSL. Oval & strongly compressed. Deep body 2.0-2.5 in SL, and significantly longer than Head Length. Single Dorsal with III-V spines and 16-20 soft rays. Head, upper body, fins and iris of eye bright red; lower body silvery-pink.Uniform bright red. Eyes large. Single dorsal. Tail deeply forked.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Slender Alfonsino / Imperador / Red Bream (Beryx splendens, not yet recorded in the Cooks, circumtropical, more comon and better flesh) has Dorsal with III-V spines and 12-15 soft rays (vs. III-V, 16-20 soft rays); Body Depth equal or slightly more than Head Length (vs. significantly more than Head Length); and slightly less Body Depth at 2.5-2.8 in SL (vs. 2.0-2.5 in SL).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

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

Beryx decadactylus Cuvier, 1829
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Beryciformes; Trachichthyoidei; BERYCIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldspecimen, deep fishing at a FAD by Nga Atinako 2000/4, Ian Bertram ID as Beryx sp., specimen not seen by G.McCormack or F.Stalker Aitutaki: fieldspecimen, 2006/May, Richard Story, found dead floating 500m off southwest reef, ID Ian Bertram as Beryx decadactylus, reconfirmed G.McCormack as Beryx decadactylus and NOT Beryx splendens by Dorsal spines V and rays 19, and Body Depth 2.2 (Depth 16cm, SL 35cm) and significantly longer than Head Length of 12cm .

References:
Special Reference: Tinker, S.W. Fishes of Hawaii, a handbook of the marine fishes of Hawaii & the Central Pacific Ocean. 1978. Hawaiian Service Inc, Honolulu. p166-167.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zupB06a, zM04b, zupM07a, zD02, zupD06a

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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