Report of Antennarius hispidus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Lophiiformes: Antennariidae) from the northern Arabian Sea

The present study reports Antennarius hispidus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) from the northern Arabian Sea. Earlier reports mainly came from the east coast of India, however, the present specimens report the occurrence from northernmost part of the Arabian Sea, in the Indian EEZ (off Okha, Gujarat). The description and the previous distributional records of Antennarius hispidus from India are provided herewith

Report of Antennarius hispidus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Lophiiformes: Antennariidae) from the northern Arabian Sea

75-77The present study reports Antennarius hispidus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) from the northern Arabian Sea. Earlier reports mainly came from the east coast of India, however, the present specimens report the occurrence from northernmost part of the Arabian Sea, in the Indian EEZ (off Okha, Gujarat). The description and the previous distributional records of Antennarius hispidus from India are provided herewith

Occurrence of a rare lambridiform fish, Desmodema polystictum (Ogilby, 1898) from Andaman coast of India

The present study reveals the first documented distribution record of Desmodema polystictum (Ogilby, 1898) from the Andaman coast, eastern Indian Ocean. The species is rare in nature and the knowledge regarding the taxonomy, ecology and distribution is still limited. Only few records have been come from the Indian Ocean. The study is based on a single specimen (34 cm total length) collected from the northeastern region of Andaman Islands, India. The present record of D. polystictum from Andaman waters provides greater latitude and depth distribution than previously acknowledged from the Indian Exclusive Economic zone. Along with the comparative morphometric and meristic data from previous reports, description of present specimen as well as distributional information are also provided and discussed

Differentiation of two Chlorophthalmus species Chlorophthalmus corniger (Alcock, 1894) and C. acutifrons (Hiyama, 1940) based on otolith morphometry

A comparative morphometric analysis of otoliths was done to understand the major morphometric characters responsible for differentiating two species of Green-eyes (Chlorophthalmus corniger and C. acutifrons) which is one of the dominant fish groups caught in the deep-sea trawling during the exploratory surveys as well as in the by-catch of trawlers targeting deep-sea shrimps at a depth range of 300 – 500 m in the Indian waters. A total of 53 intact, right otoliths (25 and 28 for C. corniger and C. acutifrons, respectively) were considered for the morphometric analysis to differentiate species collected from Andaman Sea. The study extracted four otolith morphometric measurements and five shape indices measured from the otoliths using image analysing software including otolith weight. The otolith morphometric parameters and shape indices showed significant relationship with the fish size were scaled with standard length to remove the influence of fish size from the data. Principal component analysis using scaled otolith morphometric measurements indicated that the first two axes described 84.78 % and 11.80 % of variation, respectively. The PC1 differentiated the species based on ellipticity and otolith weight followed by area and perimeter. C. acutifrons is differentiated from their congener with a more elliptic, heavy otolith with more otolith surface area. One-way PERMANOVA confirmed significant difference in otolith morphology between the species. Present study confirmed the suitability of otolith morphometric analysis in differentiating Chlorophthalmus species which are quite inevitable for taxonomic studies as well as for the better understanding of the species resolution in diet studies

Differentiation of two Chlorophthalmus species Chlorophthalmus corniger (Alcock, 1894) and C. acutifrons (Hiyama, 1940) based on otolith morphometry

489-497A comparative morphometric analysis of otoliths was done to understand the major morphometric characters responsible for differentiating two species of Green-eyes (Chlorophthalmus corniger and C. acutifrons) which is one of the dominant fish groups caught in the deep-sea trawling during the exploratory surveys as well as in the by-catch of trawlers targeting deep-sea shrimps at a depth range of 300 – 500 m in the Indian waters. A total of 53 intact, right otoliths (25 and 28 for C. corniger and C. acutifrons, respectively) were considered for the morphometric analysis to differentiate species collected from Andaman Sea. The study extracted four otolith morphometric measurements and five shape indices measured from the otoliths using image analysing software including otolith weight. The otolith morphometric parameters and shape indices showed significant relationship with the fish size were scaled with standard length to remove the influence of fish size from the data. Principal component analysis using scaled otolith morphometric measurements indicated that the first two axes described 84.78 % and 11.80 % of variation, respectively. The PC1 differentiated the species based on ellipticity and otolith weight followed by area and perimeter. C. acutifrons is differentiated from their congener with a more elliptic, heavy otolith with more otolith surface area. One-way PERMANOVA confirmed significant difference in otolith morphology between the species. Present study confirmed the suitability of otolith morphometric analysis in differentiating Chlorophthalmus species which are quite inevitable for taxonomic studies as well as for the better understanding of the species resolution in diet studies

Mated Shiny bird squid, Ornithoteuthis volatilis Sasaki, 1915 (Cephalopoda:Ommastrephidae), in the southeastern Arabian Sea

Shiny bird squid is a nerito-oceanic species of squid distributed in the Indo-West Pacific oceans. Two individuals of female Shiny bird squid, Ornithoteuthis volatilis, from the Arabian Sea collected by trawl catch are reported. The dorsal mantle length of the individuals was 148 mm and 76 mm, with a body weight of 46 g and 28 g, respectively. The maturing female had 13 implanted spermatangium, located on the aboral surface of the third left arm. The length of the implanted spermatangium ranged from 1.10 to 1.38 mm. The current study proposes additional research to better understand the species population and fisheries potential in the Arabian Sea

Range extension of two deep-sea peristediid fishes (Scorpaenoidei: Peristediidae) to the Arabian Sea, Northern Indian Ocean

142-148The present communication is based on the report of two peristediid fishes of the family Peristediidae from the southeastern Arabian Sea. Both specimens were collected as by catch from deep-sea shrimp trawlers operating at Sakthikulangara fishing harbour, Kollam, Kerala, India, at depths ranging from 200 to 420 m. The specimens were identified as Scalicus orientalis (Fowler, 1938) and Peristedion riversandersoni Alcock, 1894. Notably, the present study documents the first occurrence of these peristediid fishes in the Arabian Sea. This paper presents and discusses the detailed morphometric and meristic characteristics of these species, along with previous distributional records