This study reports the occurrence of the pearl fish Onuxodon margaritiferae (Rendahl, 1921) for the first time from Andaman

waters, inhabiting the mantle cavity of the oyster Pteria penguin. This species is known so far from Western Australia and Philippines. The present report extends the distributional range of O. margaritiferae beyond Australian waters to Andaman waters

Dharani, G

Nazar, A K A

Rao, D V

Santhanakumar, J

Saravanane, N

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141A new record of pearl fish Onuxodon margaritiferae (Rendahl, 1921)from Andaman IslandsA. K. ABDUL NAZAR, G. DHARANI1, D. V. RAO2, J. SANTHANAKUMAR1AND N. SARAVANANE3Mandapam Regional Center of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute,Mandapam Camp - 623 520, Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, India1National Institute of Ocean Technology, Minnie Bay, Port Blair - 744 103, Andamans, India2Zoological Survey of India, A & N Regional Station, Haddo, Port Blair - 744 102, Andamans, India3Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology, Kakkanad, Kochi - 682 037, Kerala, Indiae-mail: dhara@niot.res.inABSTRACTThis study reports the occurrence of the pearl fish Onuxodon margaritiferae (Rendahl, 1921) for the first time from Andamanwaters, inhabiting the mantle cavity of the oyster Pteria penguin. This species is known so far from Western Australia andPhilippines. The present report extends the distributional range of O. margaritiferae beyond Australian waters to Andamanwaters.Keywords: Andamans, Carapidae, Commensal, New record, Pearl fishThe Pearl fishes of the family Carapidae are shallow,benthic fishes inhabiting coastal waters. Most of the speciesare commensals in the body cavity of a variety ofinvertebrate hosts particularly sea stars, bivalves, ascidiansand holothurians.  So far, 35 species are identified underseven genera around the world (Nielsen et al., 1999).Studies on the carapid fishes of Indian waters are veryscanty. Only one species namely Carapus margaritiferaehas been reported from Indian coasts including Andmanand Nicobar Islands (Rendahl, 1921; Smith, 1955;  Arnold,1956;  Trott and Trott, 1972;  Markle and Olney, 1990).During the SCUBA diving exercises conducted duringFebruary - March 2007, three live shells of Pteria penguin  werecollected from each site, namely Havelock Island, (12° 03’ 172N; 92°58’ 289 E  and North Bay (11° 42’ 01.9" N; 92° 44’ 50.1"E),at depths of 19 and 23 m respectively.  Closer examination ofthe collected bivalves revealed the presence of four pearl fishessheltering in the mantle cavity of each shell (Fig. 1, 2) and whichwere identified Onuxodon margaritiferae Order: Ophidiiformes,Family: Carapidae (Rendahl, 1921) (Nielsen et al., 1999). Theeight identified specimens were deposited in the museum of theZoological Survey of India, Port Blair.The details of the deposited specimens are: ZSI/PB3851, 4 ex. 52 -71 mm TL; ZSI/PB 3852, 4 ex. 69 – 82 mmTL, collected by A. K. A. Nazar and G. Dharani on February18, and March 3, 2007 at a depth of 23 and 19 m in NorthBay and Havelock Island, South Andaman.Indian J. Fish., 58(2) : 141-143, 2011The body of O. margaritiferae is eel-like, slightlycompressed and deep; head length 14.37 – 17.69% bodydepth 8.40 - 12.39% in total length, eyes fairly large, 16.97– 19.61% in head length (Table 1, Fig. 1). Mouth oblique,maxillary not hidden by skin and reaching far behind hindborder of eyes; caudal dusky to black lateralis papillaepresent on head and anterior lateral line; precaudal vertebrae19-20; large symphyseal fangs on premaxilla and dentary;median rocker bone present at anterior end of swim bladder.Dorsal fin origin slightly ahead of anal fin origin, dorsalfin much lower than anal fin, anal fin origin behind base ofpectoral; dorsal and anal fins confluent with caudal; pectoralfins long, 27.17 - 48.57% in head length, rays supported bysmall distal radials; ventral fins absent; Body translucentin life.Fig. 1. Onuxodon margaritiferaeRendahl (1921) first described the species under thename Fierasfer margaritiferae collected from north-westAustralia but subsequently it was shifted to the genusNote142Onuxodon (Smith, 1955). So far three species of the genusviz., O. parvibrachium, O. margaritiferae and O. fowlerihave been identified from the Indo-West Pacific (www. Fishbase.org). O. parvibrachium can be easily differentiatedby the presence of short pectoral fin about 16-29% in headlength whereas about 28-54% the pectoral fin is long in theother two species. Further O. margaritiferae is distinguishedfrom O. fowleri by the presence of relatively short and deepbody with a depth of 11 to 16% in total length compared to6 to 10% for the latter. Based on the detailed study of variousother meristic and morphometric characters, the presentspecimens collected from North Bay and Havelock Island,South Andaman, have been identified as O. margaritiferae.The commensal carapids (Onuxodon, Carapus, andEncheliophis) dwell in shallow coastal waters within thebody cavity of invertebrate hosts such as pearl oysters, giantclams, tunicates, sea stars, and sea cucumbers. Some speciesare obligatory commensals and they never leave their hosts.They feed on a wide variety of invertebrates such ascrustaceans and polychaetes and some, even feed on a host’sinternal organs (http://animals.jrank.org). Almost all thespecies of Onuxodon live inside the shells of bivalves suchas clam shells (Smith, 1955), Pteria sp. and Pycnodontahyotis (Trott and Trott, 1972) and some species ofHolothurians (De Beaufort and Chapman, 1951). Thespecimens were recorded in pairs, suggesting a strong trendtowards sexual paring inside the host.Hence our report on the occurrence of O. margaritiferaein the pearl oyster Pteria penguin in the coastal waters ofSouth Andaman is noteworthy and a new record. Therefore,the distributional record of this species in now being extendedfrom Western Australia to Indian waters (Andaman Islands).A. K. Abdul Nazar et al.Fig. 2. Pearl fish Onuxodon margaritiferae in the mantle cavityof oyster Pteria penguinAcknowledgementsThe authors are grateful to the Director, NIOT forproviding necessary facilities.ReferencesArnold, D. C. 1956. A systematic revision of the fishes of theteleost family Carapidae (Percomorphi, Blennioidea), withdescriptions of two new species. Bull. British Mus. (Nat.Hist.), 4(6): 245-307.De Beaufort, L. F. and Chapman, W. M. 1951. Fishes of Indo-Australian Archipelago, 9: 452-453.Markle, D. F. and Olney, J. E., 1990. Systematics of the Pearlfishes(Pisces: Carapidae), Bull. Mar. Sci., 47:269- 410.Table. 1. Morphometric and meristics of Onuxodon margaritiferaeMeasurement (mm) Port Blair Group Havelock GroupSp.1 Sp.2 Sp.3 Sp.4 Sp.1 Sp.2 Sp.3 Sp.4Total length 70.5 59.5 71.0 52.0 82.0 80.5 80.0 69.0Head length 10.5 9.5 10.2 9.2 11.8 12.0 12.0 10.5Body depth 8.5 7.2 8.8 6.3 10.0 9.3 9.5 8.2Eye diameter 2.0 1.8 2.0 1.6 2.2 2.0 2.0 2.0Pre-orbital length 2.0 1.8 2.0 1.5 2.2 2.0 2.5 2.0Pre-dorsal length 13.0 8.5 14.0 8.5 15.0 14.0 14.0 14.0Pre-pectoral length 8.0 6.5 9.2 7.0 10.9 10.8 10.3 10.0Pre-anal length 11.5 7.5 12.0 7.0 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.0Pectoral fin length 3.2 2.6 3.2 2.5 5.2 5.5 5.4 5.1Pectoral fin rays 16 16 16 16 17 17 17 17Pre-caudal vertebrae 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 19Anal fin rays 137 136 139 135 137 139 139 138Dorsal fin rays 130 132 130 130 130 130 129 129143New record of pearl fish Onuxodon margaritiferae from AndamansMahadevan, S.  1961.  The pearl fish Carapus margaritiferae(Rendahl), a new record for the Indian waters. J. Mar. Biol.Ass. India.,  3(1 & 2): 204-208Nielsen, J.G., Cohen, D. M., Markle, D. F. and Robins, C. R.,1999. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (OrderOphidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue ofpearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishesknown to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis No. 125, Vol. 18.Rome, FAO.Rendahl, H.  1921. Results of  Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish scientificexpeditions to Australia, 1910-13. XXVIII. Fische.  K. Sven.Vetenskapsakad. Handl., 1-24.Smith, J. L. B. 1955. The fishes of the family Carapidae in thewestern Indian Ocean. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 12: 401-416.Trott, L. B. and Trott, E. E. 1972. Pearlfishes (Carapida),Gadiformes) collected from Puerto Galera, Midoro,Philippines. Copeia, 1972: (4): 839-843.Date of Receipt : 07.08.2009Date of Acceptance : 13.04.2011

New record of pearl fish Onuxodon margaritiferae (Rendahl, 1921) from Andaman Islands

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New record of pearl fish Onuxodon margaritiferae (Rendahl, 1921) from Andaman Islands

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