New records of marine fishes from the coral reefs and deep waters of Gulf of Mannar, India

Anatomy, ultrastructure and histology of the olfactory organ of the largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, Centrarchidae

“…The anatomical features of M. salmoides are as follows: a tubular-anterior nostril to stick out, fan-shaped lamellae with 9 to 11 units arranged radially on the medium raphe, and two accessory nasal sacs. The tubular-anterior nostril has been well-known in most of the Perciformes as a tube- or a tentacle-like hole located at a differing position of their snout (Murase 2007 ; Padate et al 2017 ; Zeiske et al 1992 ). Generally, such nostril has been identified in benthic or settled fishes, to maintain a benthic strategy, move slowly and remain motionless in at least part of their whole life history (Kasumyan 2004 ; Cox 2008 ).…”

Re-assessment of a recent Indian Ocean record of the endemic East Asian species Dendrochirus bellus (Actinopterygii: Scorpaenidae: Pteroinae)

“…Standard length is abbreviated as SL. The following specimens previously identified by Padate et al (2017) as D. bellus deposited at the Marine Biodiversity Museum of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, Kerala (India) were examined: GB.38.24.11.10, 3 specimens, 52.5-72.9 mm SL, 08°45-47′47-49″N, 78°17-23′07-15″E, Gulf of Mannar, 16 m depth, 11 October 2012 and 13 March 2013 ( Fig. 1).…”

“…Padate et al's (2017) identification of the Indian specimens was based on Poss' (1999) key to species of Scorpaenidae, thereby overlooking such diagnostic characters as absence or presence of skin flaps on the orbit surface and base of the uppermost preopercular spine, described recently for D. bellus by Matsunuma et al (2017). Although Padate et al (2017) stated that the Indian specimens possessed 37 scale rows in the longitudinal series, being consistent with counts for D. bellus [33-44 (modally 38)], compared with 39-50 (44) in D. brachypterus (Matsunuma et al 2017), fig. 2C in the former (a photograph of a 72.9 mm-SL Indian specimen) showed it to possess irregularly-sized body scales (posterior scales on the body and caudal peduncle about half size of anterior scales), in addition to a large healed mid-lateral wound (just in front of anal-fin origin) (see also Fig.…”

“…1), being consistent with diagnostic characters of D. brachypterus (a skin flap on that portion almost always absent and the pectoral-fin bands paler anteriorly without inner spots in D. bellus). Furthermore, Padate et al (2017) recorded 20 gill rakers (total) in their specimens, well beyond the range for D. bellus (12-17) but close to that of D. brachypterus (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) (Matsunuma et al 2017). Although a third species, D. hemprichi, distributed in the western Indian Ocean but not recorded from south-eastern India, is closely related to D. brachypterus, it is diagnostically distinct from both the latter and D. bellus (see Matsunuma et al 2017).…”