P P Manojkumar

Morphological Deformities in Neotrygon kuhlii (Muller & Henle, 1841) from Gulf of Mannar, Bay of Bengal, India

Morphological deformities in blue-spotted maskray, Neotrygon kuhlii (Muller & Henle, 1841) were observed from the regular fishery of the Gulf of Mannar, Southeast coast of India. The deformities were mostly noticed in the head (pectorals not fused) and the vertebral column (scoliotic/lordotic/kyphotic curve). The detailed observations on various deformities have been briefly described in the present investigation.

First Record of Arrow Gaper, Champsodon sagittus Nemeth, 1994 (Family: Champsodontidae) from Bay of Bengal, Eastern Indian Ocean

Champsodon sagittus, a species belonging to group popularly known as gapers has earlier known to occur in a narrow region of Indo-pacific along the coast of Australia, Philippines and Indonesia. The current report is the first record of the species from the Bay of Bengal, suggesting its possible wider distribution of the species in Indo-pacific Ocean. C. sagittus can be separated from other congeneric species by the combination of two gill rakers of upper limb, naked belly, five pair of sensory papillae on snout and no expansion of haemal spine The study also gives an insight into its depth of occurrence and habitat sharing with deep sea crustaceans.