Taxonomy and distributional records of the Indo‐Pacific sting fish genusMinous(Scorpaeniformes: Synanceiidae) from Indian waters

Abstract

In this study, we present a taxonomic synthesis and compendium of the diversity and distribution of stonefishes of the genus Minous (Scorpaeniformes: Synanceiidae) from Indian waters, including revised species descriptions, diagnoses, and biometric data from specimens off the coast of Visakhapatnam, central eastern India. A total of 342 Minous specimens (males, females, and juveniles) from Visakhapatnam waters were examined and identified based on external and internal morphology, resulting in the identification of four Minous species: M. coccineus Alcock 1890, M. inermis Alcock 1889, M. monodactylus (Block and Schneider 1801), and M. trachycephalus (Bleeker 1855); the last‐named recorded for the first time in Indian coastal waters. Furthermore, the study reports the occurrence of M. inermis (Alcock's scorpionfish) from coastal waters of Visakhapatnam for the first time. Finally, we present a taxonomic key for the identification of the species of Minous present in Indian waters.

First record of the one stick sting fish Minous coccineus Alcock, 1890 from the continental shelf of Bangladesh

“…All meristic characteristics are consistent with the species' earlier records (Table I). The majority of morphological traits either overlap or transcend the range, which is appropriate given the variations in growth rate, even though some morphological characters are not exactly similar to the range observed by Naranji et al (2022) and Ray et al (2021).…”

“…The species of the family Synanceiidae commonly referred to as Stone fishes and also known as sting fishes and comprise 141 valid species of 52 genera (Fricke et al 2022). They have relatively robust, slightly compressed bodies with spiky heads that can inject the most lethal fish neurotoxins through needle-like venom glands at the base of their dorsal fin spines (Nelson et al 2016).…”

“…They have relatively robust, slightly compressed bodies with spiky heads that can inject the most lethal fish neurotoxins through needle-like venom glands at the base of their dorsal fin spines (Nelson et al 2016). The majority of the tiny, bottom-dwelling stone fishes can be found in shallow waters near the shore or at depths of up to 420 meters throughout the tropical marine waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Japan to Australia west to the western Indian Ocean and Red Sea (Eschmeyer et al 1979, Amaoka and Kanayama 1981, Mandrytsa 1990& 1993, Nelson et al 2016, Naranji et al 2018, Fricke et al 2022. Stone fishes are most frequently seen in close proximity to coral reefs, where they dwell benthically and blend in with muddy or sandy substrates by disguising themselves as rocks and "walking" on the bottom (Nelson et al 2016).…”

“…Most of them inhabit at depths between 10-420 meters on the muddy and sandy bottoms of coastal marine waters, east into the Western pacific, north to Japan and south to Australia (Eschmeyer et al 1979). The stonefish genus comprises 15 valid species distributed in the Indo-Pacific region (Matsunuma et al 2017, Fricke et al 2022, five of which have been reported as occurring in Indian waters, namely: Minous pictus Günther, 1880, Minous coccineus Alcock, 1890, Minous inermis Alcock, 1889, Minous dempsterae Eschmeyer, Hallacher &Rama-Rao, 1979 andMinous monodactylus (Block andSchneider 1801) (Russell 1803, Munro 1955, de Beaufort and Briggs 1962, Eschmeyer et al 1979, Jones and Kumaran 1980, Krishnan and Mishra 1993, Kapoor et al 2002, Smith and Heemstra 2012, Naranji et al 2017, Matsunuma and Motomura 2018. However, only two species of stonefish, Minous pictus Günther, 1880 and Minous monodactylus (Bloch and Schneider 1801) have been recorded from the sea waters of Bangladesh (Habib and Islam 2021).…”