This is the first record of the mackerel, Rastrelliger faughni from the Indian ocean.

The characters that clearly distinguish this species from others of Rastrelliger are the few

and short gill rakers, more slender body, shorter head, maxillary and mandible

Gnanamuttu, J C

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N O T E S ON THE OCCURRENCE OF RASTRELLIGER FAUGHNJ MATSUI IN THE INDIAN WATERS J.C. GNANAMUTTU Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute; Sub-station, Madras-8 This is the first record of the mackerel, Rastrelliger faughni from the Indian ocean. The characters that clearly distinguish this species from others of Rastrelliger are the few and short gill rakers, more slender body, shorter head, maxillary and mandible. Matsui (1967) described a new species of Rastrelliger, viz., R. faughni from Taiwan and Philippines and considered Scomber australasicus de Beaufort (1951) (nee Cuvier 1831) and Pneumatophorus australasicus Manacop (1956) (nee Cuvier 1831) as synonyms. The distribution of S. australasicus though given by de Beaufort as "Buton, North Celebes, Ambon, Misoil, Coasts of Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand" will need reappraisal. Present records indicate that R. faughni is known only from Taiwan, Philippines and Indonesian waters (Western Pacific) (Matsui, 1967). Hitherto only two species of mackerel, namely R. kanagurta and R. brachysoma ha.\e been reported from the Indian seas (Jones and Silas, 1964; Matsui, 1970; Rao, 1970). In December 1965 a few specimens of mackerel were obtained by the author at Madras which differed markedly from R. kanagurta and R. brachysoma. The subsequent description of R.faughniby Matsui (1967) indicated that the specimens in the collection were identical With it. More recently the author has been able to collect additional material of i?. yfl«gA»/of the size range 68-198 mm (standard length) from shore seines, gill nets and trawls operated off Madras, particularly during the months February to May 1971. This report thus represents the first record of this species from the Indian Ocean. A comparison of the body proportions in percentage of standard length between the present material and those given by Matsui (Table 1) reveals remarkable similarity. Only slight differences appear to be there in head length, snout, body depth and diameter of eye which show a higher value in the present specimens than those observed by Matsui. The characters in which the present material distinctly differ from R. kanagurta obtained along with R. faughni in Madras is presented in Table 2. The distinguishing characters of R. faughni may be said to be as follows: body is i Flo. 1. Rastrelliger Fmigkni from, tlic Indian wafers. Head with mouth kept open !o show flic absence of feather-like gill rakers. 172 NOTES TABLE 1. Comparison of measurements in percentage of standard length of Rastrelliger faughni Matsui from Taiwan and Philippine waters and R. faughni Matsui from Indian waters Characters 1. Standard length (in mm) 2. Head length 3. Snout length 4. Maxillary length S. Mandible length 6. Space between first dorsal fin groove and second dorsal fin 7. Length first dorsal fin groove 8. Basal length second dorsal fin 9. Snout-pelvic fin distance 10. Pelvic anal distance 11. Pectoral fin length 12. Length 2nd spine of first dor-sal fin 13. Eye diameter 14. Body depth at: Operculum 1st spine of 1st dorsal 7th spine of 1st dorsal Anal fin 15. Length oflongest gill raker 16. Number of gill rakers Rastrelliger faughni (Matsui, 1967) Range Mean Number 92.5-204 25.2-28.0 6.6-8.7 9.7-11.0 13.3-16.3 7.0-11.8 16.8-22.6 11.8-16.2 30.1-36.6 29.7-36.3 11.2-14.7 11.3-15.5 5.4-7.5 18.7-22.0 20.5-24.4 19.5-26.9 18.9-23.0 3.8-5.6 11-14/22-25 180.0 26.5 7.7 10.4 15.1 8.6 19.7 12.8 32.6 32.7 13.0 13.4 6.S 20.8 22.4 23.9 21.7 5.1 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 27 33 33 28 25 33 33 Rastrelliger faughni (Indian waters) Range Mean Number 68-198 27.6-30.5 7.4-9.5 9.7-12.0 14.0-17.6 6,1-11.5 17.2-22.1 12.9-15.4 30.6-34.5 31.0-34.4 11.9-15.0 12.5-16.5 7.1-10.6 20.3-23.7 22,0-26.2 22.0-26.3 20.5-25.0 4.2-6.7 12-14/21-25 152.7 28.9 8.3 . 11.7 15.7 8.4 20.0 14.1 32.0 33.2 13.2 14.5 8.2 . 22.2 24.6 24.7 23.3 5.4 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 32 33 33 33 33 31 31 32 33 33 more slender; head shorter; mouth short with the mandible extending not beyond the hind border of eye and the maxillary extending near to the middle of eye and stopping at about 3/4 the length of maxillary sheath or lacrimal; teeth absent in vomer and palatine; gill rakers very few and short, not visible like feathers when the mouth is opened. In live specimens the dorsal surface is bluish green with two rows of black spots on either side extending from the hind end of skull to caudal peduncle. Silvery with yellowish tinge below; black spot present on the body behind the pectoral base. Dprsal fins, finlets and pectorals greyish at the outer margin. Internally the lining of the body cavity has scattered melanophores appearing greyish in young juveniles and practically colourless in specimens above 150 mm. In osteological features the present material agrees with the details as given for R. faughni by Matsui (1967). In the number of vertebrae, the shape and number of NOTES 173 TABLE 2. Comparison o/Rastrelliger kanagurta and R. faughni/row Indian waters 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Characters Gill raker counts Longest gill raker Head length Body depth: at operculum at 1st spine of 1st at 7th spine of 1st at anal fin Maxillary length Mandible length Snout length dorsal dorsal fin fin Rastrelliger kanagurta 17-23/34-42 8.4—12.2 30.4—32.2 23.8—26.1 26.2—29.2 26.2—29.2 24.2—26.6 13.8—17.0 18.8—23.0 8.4—9.9 Rastrelliger faughni 11-14/22-25 4.2—6.7 27.6—30.5 20.3—23.7 22.0—26.2 22.0—26.3 20.5—25.0 9.7—12.0 14.0—17.6 7.4—9.5 Note: Characters 2-7 in percentage of standard length. interhaemal and interneural bones R. faughni shows similarity to R. kanagurta. However, they differ in other characters such as the structure of the lateral bones of the skull and the hyoid and branchial arches. Matsui (1967) found the length of gut of R. faughni to be much shorter than that of R. kanagurta and R. brachysoma. The gut lengths of the present material too appear to be much shorter than that of the Indian mackerel, R. kanagurta hut more data are required to lay emphasis on this character. I am grateful to Shri T. Tholasilingam for going through the manuscript and his encouragement in the preparation of this note. DE BEAUFORT L.F. 1951. Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Vol. IX. JONES. S. and E. G. SILAS. 1964. A systematic review of the scombroid fishes of India. Proc, Symposium on scombroid fishes, Vatt I: 1-105. Marine Biological Association of India. MANACOP. P . R . 1956. A preliminary systematic study of Philippine chub mackerels. Family Scom-bridae, Genera Pneumalophorus and Rastrelliger. Philippine. J. Fish., 4 (2): 79-99. MATSUIT. 1967. Review of the mackerel genera ^comfier and/{fls/re/ft;fer with description ofanew species of Rastrelliger. Copeto, No. 1: 71-83. MATSUI. T. 1970. Description of the larvae of Rastrelliger (Mackerel) and a comparison of the juveniles and adults of the species/{.^ana^Hj-/a and/{.fiwcAj-iowa. Naga Report, 5(1): 1-33. RAO, K.V. 1970. The Indian mackerel. Identity. Bull. cent. mar. Fish. Res. Inst., 24: 3-13. 

On the occurrence of Rastrelliger faughni Matsui

In the Indian waters

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On the occurrence of Rastrelliger faughni Matsui In the Indian waters

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