K Kannan

New record of Neobythites multistriatus (Pisces: Ophidiidae) from Bay of Bengal, south-east coast of India

Neobythitesstefanovi is recorded for the first time from Indian waters in the Gulf of Mannar. Two specimens were landed as by-catch in trawl gear at Tuticorin fisheries harbour, south-east coast of India, in March 2010. This is also the first record of the species outside the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and Gulf of Aden, in the western Indian Ocean.

First record of Neobythites stefanovi(Teleostei: Ophidiidae) from Indian waters

Neobythitesstefanovi is recorded for the first time from Indian waters in the Gulf of Mannar. Two specimens were landed as by-catch in trawl gear at Tuticorin fisheries harbour, south-east coast of India, in March 2010. This is also the first record of the species outside the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and Gulf of Aden, in the western Indian Ocean.

First record of Grammonus robustus(Ophidiiformes: Bythitidae) from Indianwaters

This is the first record of Grammonus robustusfrom Indian waters. Five specimens measuring 132 –233 mm standard length were collected from the by-catch landed by a deep sea trawler from waters 150 to 200 m deep off the Tuticorin coast in the Gulf of Mannar. The detailed morphometric and meristic characters are compared to known G. robustus material.

First record of the twostripe goby, Valenciennea helsdingenii (Gobiidae, Gobiiformes) from the southeast coast of India

Abstract Two specimens of Valenciennea helsdingenii (Bleeker, 1858) were collected off Punnakayal coast, from Gulf of Mannar, southeast coast of India in November 2012. The morphometric and meristic characters of the recorded specimens are described and discussed. This is the first record of the species from the Indian waters that is a range extension of its known range within the Indian Ocean.

First record of striated fusilier Caesio striata (Teleostei: Caesionidae), from Indian waters

The striated fusilier Caesio striata, is recorded for the first time in Indian waters. A single specimen was caught in the Gulf of Mannar and landed at Tuticorin fisheries harbour. On 16 September 2010, a single specimen of Caesio striata weighing approximately 200 g, was collected from Tuticorin fisheries harbour (south-east coast of India), from the by-catch landed by a motorized fishing vessel using a drift gill-net (net length 5000 m; net height 14 m). This is the first record of Caesio striata from the Bayof Bengal. It is assumed that this species might have extended its range in the Indian Ocean up to the Bay of Bengal via the Arabian Sea.