Rekha J Nair

A Review on the Fisheries, Taxonomy, and Status of the Flatfishes in Tropical Waters

90.4 million tonnes of fish was captured from the world oceans with a first sale value of US

Midnight Snapper Macolor macularis (Perciformes: Lutjanidae)—a new record of snapper from Indian waters

217.5 billion during 2011 of which 52% was contributed by Asian countries. Of the 54,711 recognized living vertebrate species of the world, fishes contribute slightly more than one half. Although flatfishes are common in most marine fish assemblages from the poles to the tropics, most landings data reported to FAO from tropical regions do not list statistics for individual flatfishes except Indian halibut; 54–80% of the total landings of tropical flatfishes consist of unidentified species. With importance being attached to recording the biodiversity of the tropical “mega-biodiversity area,” a review of the current status of the flatfish fishery and taxonomy is necessary to augment further work in this area and explore options for further research.

New distributional records of three soldier fishes (Pisces: Holocentridae: Myripristis ) from Indian waters

The Midnight Snapper Macolor macularis, is reported for the first time from the Indian exclusive economic zone based on the two specimens collected from Cochin Fisheries Harbour, Kerala on the south-west coast of India on December 2012 and October 2013. Morphometric and meristic data of the specimens are presented and discussed.

Range extension of the striped triggerfish Xanthichthys lineopunctatus (Tetraodontiformes: Balistidae) from India

Three species of Myripristid fishes identified as Myripristis seychellensis, M. formosa and M. greenfieldi were collected from Indian waters. This adds to the already existing six species of soldierfishes Myripristis adusta, M. berndti, M. botche, M. hexagona, M. murdjan and M. violacea recorded from Indian and Andaman waters. Since these three fishes are new distributional records for Indian waters, meristic counts, body measurements and descriptions of the specimens are presented.

Occurrence of two serranid fish from Indian waters with a note on their taxonomy

Two specimens of Xanthichthys lineopunctatus of total length 254 mm and 293 mm were collected from hook and line units operating off Kerala near Lakshadweep on the south-west coast of India in October 2004 and November 2005. The species is characterized by an oblong compressed body with a small mouth, yellowish brown body traversed horizontally by incomplete reddish brown lines from the operculum which become dotted lines on ventral area. This is the first report of the genus from Indian waters and an addition to the nine genera and thirteen species of balistids already reported from Indian waters. The descriptions of the specimens collected are provided with possible cause of range extension due to temperature changes in its natural habitat.

Flatfish fishery off Cochin and some aspects of the biology and stock of Malabar sole Cynoglossus macrostomus (Norman)

The serranid fish Liopropoma lunulatum (Guichenot, 1863) and Plectropomus laevis (Lace´pe`de, 1801) were recorded from Cochin fisheries harbour, Kerala in March 2012, constituting new records for Indian waters. Morphometric and meristic characters of the specimens were similar to those reported elsewhere for the species. Distinguishing characters and colour patterns of the two species are discussed. The present record indicates a marked extension of their range of distribution from their type localities.