Taxonomy of Fishes of the Family Balistidae in India

Abstract

The fishes of the family Balistidae are popularly known as trigger fishes and distributed along the Indian and the Pacific Oceans, though certain species are restricted to particular regions. In India, these fishes are abundant in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, off Maharashtra and Gujarat coast, off Kerala, Andaman and Lakshadweep Islands. The recent trend in exploitation for human consumption and export and the fast increasing demand for these fishes in live condition for aquarium purpose warrant knowledge on taxonomy and distribution in space and time of the individual species for formulating strategies for sustaining yields and addressing the issues of biodiversity conservation. They feed mainly on zooplankton, molluscs, sponges and other associated fauna and the schooling behaviour is directly correlated to its grazing and grabbing nature. Added to this balistids have preference to coral reef habitat for feeding during their younger stages. The coral reefs and sand beds along the coast serve as the feeding ground for them and juveniles migrate to these grounds for feeding. It is also to be noted that trawl catch was constituted exclusively by 8-32 cm fishes, with total absence of small juveniles and mature fishes. Descriptions of the species of the genera viz. Abalistes, Balistapus, Zenodon, Canthidermis, Melichthys, Pseudobalistes, Parabalistes, Rhinecanthus and Sufflamen were don