Morphometric and Meristic traits of four flatheads (family: Platycephalidae) occurring along the East coast of India

Study on a meristic traits of Kumococius rodericensis Sorsogona tuberculata Platycephalus indicus and Rogadius serratus (family Platycephalidae), occurring along the East coast of India, was conducted to find easily differentiating traits. The study was based on the samples collected from landing centers situated along the East coast of India, during February 2015 to March 2016. A total of thirty-one morphometric and meristic characters were measured, counted and subjected to statistical analysis using software Statistica. Among eighteen morphometric measurements, five measurement (distance between upper and lower jaw, length of upper preopercular spine, snout length, maximum length of first dorsal spine, maximum length of second dorsal spine) did not show difference when subjected to factor analysis. Varimax raw factor rotation on factor loading 0.7 were selected for scatterplot of canonical score among root 1 and root 2, which revealed existence of distinct group of species. Number of gillrakers, spot on caudal fin, number of pored scale on lateral line and preopercular spine revealed significant variations among the species. The proportional measurements with their head length (HL) viz. Preorbital length: head length (POL:HL), Inter orbital width: head length (IOW:HL), and maximum eye diameter: head length (MED:HL) also revealed significant difference among the species. The study revealed certain morphological characters those can easily identify the flathead species.

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Redescription and molecular characterization of Crenidens macracanthus Günther, 1874 (Pisces: Sparidae), and first record of C. indicus Day, 1873 in the eastern Indian Ocean

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315420000880 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 100 (7) ◽

pp. 1147-1153

Author(s):

Subal Kumar Roul ◽

N. S. Jeena ◽

Shubhadeep Ghosh ◽

Prathibha Rohit

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Tamil Nadu ◽

East Coast ◽

Eastern Indian Ocean ◽

Valid Species ◽

Morphological Description ◽

Type Specimens ◽

Meristic Characters ◽

East Coast Of India ◽

North East

AbstractCrenidens macracanthus was originally described in 1874 based on a single specimen collected from Chennai (Madras), south-east coast of India. In 1875, the species was synonymized with C. indicus without citing any valid reason. Since then, no taxonomic studies have been attempted for the genus Crenidens, except in 2013 the species was resurrected from synonymy and redescribed as a valid species based on the holotype and non-type specimen. In view of the fact that C. macracanthus is a poorly known species, it is redescribed based on examination of 30 additional specimens of 105.8–162.2 mm SL, collected from Puri, Odisha, north-east coast of India (Bay of Bengal) from 2017–2019, using morphological and molecular examinations. Our study provides a detailed morphological description, first colour photographs and phylogenetic analysis using COI barcodes of the species. The study has expanded the range in several morpho-meristic characters in comparison with the type and non-type specimens described earlier. The species in fresh condition can be easily distinguished from its two congeners (C. crenidens and C. indicus) by the yellowish tip of the lower caudal-fin lobe. Our study has also extended the distribution range of C. indicus (previously known only from the north-eastern Arabian Sea) to the eastern Indian Ocean, based on examination of a preserved specimen collected from Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu.

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First record of the African spadefish, Tripterodon orbis Playfair, 1867 (family: Ephippidae) from the north-east coast of India

Marine Biodiversity Records ◽

10.1017/s1755267215000974 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Pralaya Ranjan Behera ◽

Shubhadeep Ghosh ◽

M. Satish Kumar

Keyword(s):

East Coast ◽

First Record ◽

Northern Region ◽

Single Specimen ◽

Meristic Characters ◽

East Coast Of India ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

Gill Net ◽

First Occurrence

A single specimen of the African spadefish,Tripterodon orbis, was landed in a gill net operating off Visakhapatnam on 13 December 2013. The morphometric and meristic characters of the recorded specimen are described and discussed herein. This is the first occurrence of the species from the north-east coast of India, exhibiting an extension in distribution from the southern to the northern region, along the Bay of Bengal.

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An occurrence of the rare Sharptail Mola Masturus lanceolatus (Lienard, 1840) (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae), in the coastal waters of Visakhapatnam, India

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.2790.8.13.9592-9594 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 (13) ◽

pp. 9592 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Muddula Krishna Naranji ◽

Velamala Govinda Rao ◽

Devara Venu

Keyword(s):

Coastal Waters ◽

East Coast ◽

Depth Range ◽

Single Specimen ◽

Meristic Characters ◽

East Coast Of India ◽

Total Length ◽

First Time

A single specimen of the Sharptail Mola Masturus lanceolatus (Lienard, 1840) (total length 1.39m) was collected from a commercial trawler operated from Visakhapatnam at a depth range of 150–300 m, east coast of India on 12 April 2016. It was recorded for the first time in Visakhapatnam. A detailed description, morphometric and meristic characters of the species are provided in this paper

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Changes in macrobenthic community structure from estuary to continental slope in the south-east coast of India

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315416000229 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 97 (1) ◽

pp. 161-180 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ajmal Khan ◽

Seerangan Manokaran ◽

Somasundharanair Lyla

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Continental Slope ◽

East Coast ◽

Macrobenthic Community ◽

Species Number ◽

Gradual Change ◽

Depth Range ◽

The South ◽

East Coast Of India ◽

Number Of Species

The pattern of changes in the macrobenthic community was studied along the south-east coast of India from the estuary to continental slope. A transect perpendicular to the coast was selected for sampling in estuary, inshore region, continental shelf and continental slope. Sampling was done in 16 stations in the depth range of 1.7–1000 m. The community structure was characterized in terms of species composition, abundance, diversity and feeding type. Four taxa were encountered in the study area comprising 181 species of polychaetes, 65 species of molluscs, 47 species of crustaceans and six species of ‘others’ (four echinoderms and two cnidarians). Polychaetes were found to be dominant at all the depths constituting 53.89% of the total abundance and 60.54% of the total number of species. Number of species and Shannon diversity of macrobenthos increased from estuary to shelf region and then decreased. The abundance was found to be maximum in the estuary and minimum in the slope. Carnivorous species were found to be dominant in the estuarine and inshore regions and surface deposit feeders in the shelf and slope regions. Dissolved oxygen decreased gradually from 30 m depth and beyond 150 m the decrease was pronounced due to the presence of the oxygen minimum zone. The distance based linear model (DISTLM) showed the environmental variables to explain about 76.45% of the total variability in macrofaunal distribution. Among the various environmental parameters, total organic carbon, depth and salinity explained more variability than others. Gradual change in community structure was quite evident with increase in depth.

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