Subhrendu Sekhar Mishra

A new species of the genus Scolopsis Cuvier, 1830 (Perciformes: Nemipteridae) from southern India and Sri Lanka

Scolopsis igcarensis, a new species of monocle bream (family Nemipteridae) from the coastal waters of southern India and Sri Lanka is described. The species is distinguished from other species of the genus Scolopsis by a combination of the following characters: scales on top of head reaching forward to between anterior nostril and snout tip; lower margin of eye below the line from snout tip to upper pectoral fin base; a bony ridge below eye; a white band from behind eye to level of end of dorsal fin base.

First Record of Eleven Reef Inhabiting Fishes from Tamil Nadu Coast of India, Bay of Bengal

Kalpakkam coast is an important strategic region reflecting the general diversity of Tamil Nadu (TN) coastal waters. In a recent inventory of fish survey conducted along this coast, we discovered 316 coastal fishes, of which >150 are reef fishes. The present paper describes the report of eleven reef-associated fishes new to the TN coast of Bay of Bengal viz. Torpedo sinuspersici Olfers, Himantura gerrardi (Gray), Gymnothorax meleagris (Shaw), Scorpaenodes guamensis (Quoy & Gaimard), Seriola rivoliana Valenciennes, Caesio cuning (Bloch), Nemipterus zysron (Bleeker), Parascolopsis eriomma (Jordan & Richardson), Abudefduf sordidus (Forsskal), Istiblennius edentulus (Forster & Schneider) and Canthigaster solandri (Richardson); out of which four (Gymnothorax meleagris (Shaw), Abudefduf sordidus (Forsskal), Istiblennius edentulus (Forster & Schneider) and Canthigaster solandri (Richardson)) are new to the Bay of Bengal coast of Indian mainland.

Fish and Shellfish Fauna of Chilika Lagoon: An Updated Checklist

The chapter deals with the updated list of the finfish and shellfish recorded to date from Chilika lagoon, on the east coast of India. Reported from the lagoon were: a total of 315 species of fish belonging to 24 orders and 87 families; 35 species of crab under 9 families; 29 species of prawn from 8 families; and 2 species of lobster from a single family. It is interesting to note that, whereas fishes of three families could not be found, 14 families were represented for the first time after eco-restoration. Among the 35 species of crab reported, 14 species were reported during the post-restoration period, and 18 out of 29 species of prawn were recorded during the post-restoration phase.

Notes on the Indian swellshark, Cephaloscyllium silasi (Scyliorhinidae: Carcharhiniformes) from deep waters off the west coast of India

The Indian swellshark Cephaloscyllium silasi is a poorly known deep water scyliorhinid (Carcharhiniformes) shark described from the south-west coast of India (off Kollam). Since the original description, reports of this species are absent due to rarity of specimens. This paper presents the first report of its egg case and also provides detailed morphological data about C. silasi based on recently collected materials.

First record and range-extension of bigscale jawfish, Opistognathus macrolepis (Perciformes: Opistognathidae), from Indian Ocean

A specimen of bigscale jawfish, Opistognathus macrolepis (Perciformes: Opistognathidae) was collected from the travelling water screen of Madras Atomic Power Station pump house, located at Kalpakkam, south-east coast of India. Opistognathus macrolepis was previously known only from central west Pacific, from the Gulfs of Thailand and Carpentaria, Australia. The present study reports the first record of its occurrence in the Indian Ocean from the east coast of India and constitutes a new addition to the Indian coastal ichthyofauna.

New records of four reef-associated fishes from east coast of India

First records of: viper moray, Enchelynassa canina (Quoy et Gaimard, 1824); v ermiculated blenny, Entomacrodus vermiculatus (Valenciennes, 1836); cardinalfish, Apogon fleurieu (Lacepede, 1802); and orange- lined cardinalfish, Archamia fucata (Cantor, 1849) in the waters along the east coast of India are herewith docu- mented. This record increases the knowledge on the richness of the Indian marine reef-associated fauna and may suggest a range extension of the geographical distribution of the mentioned species from the western Indian waters t o east coast of India.

Gymnothorax odishi sp. nov. (Muraenidae: Muraeninae), a short brown unpatterned moray eel from Bay of Bengal, India

Gymnothorax odishi sp. nov., a new short brown moray eel, is described here on the basis of eleven specimens collected from Gopalpur, Odisha, along the east coast of India, Bay of Bengal. The species is characterized with dorsal-fin origin before gill opening, jaw pores with dark rim, small black patch just behind the eye of about eye size or more, gill opening with dark rim, two branchial pores, predorsal vertebrae 4, preanal vertebrae 55-58 and total vertebrae 133-138, three large fang like median intermaxillary teeth, uniserial maxillary and vomerine teeth. The new species is compared with all short brown unpatterned moray eels known from the world.

Ophichthus johnmccoskeri sp. nov. (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae): a new snake eel from Indian waters, Bay of Bengal

A new species of snake eel (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae: Ophichthinae), Ophichthus johnmccoskeri sp. nov., is described from three specimens collected from the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, India. Ophichthus johnmccoskeri sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by having the dorsal-fin origin well behind the pectoral-fin tips, by tooth pattern (lower jaw with a single row anteriorly followed by biserial teeth on anterior sides and tri-serial teeth posteriorly), and vertebral count (24 predorsal, 51-52 preanal, and 156-158 total).The new species has a single barbel between the anterior and posterior nostrils; vomerine teeth biserial anteriorly, multi to triserial and biserial medially and in a single row posteriorly; maxillary teeth biserial anteriorly and triserial posteriorly; tip of the lower jaw toothless; and tail length 1.6 times in total length.

First Report of Genus Diploconger (Congridae: Congrinae) from the Indian Coast

Present study reports a moderately elongate, light brown coloured eel, Diploconger polystigmatus Kotthaus, 1968, for the first time from Indian waters. The species is differentiated from other congridae in having the following combination of characters: double row of cephalic and lateral-line pores, dark brown strip from the middle of the supratemporal commissure up to the tip of the mouth, dorsal fin origin nearly from the halfway of pectoral fin, each dorsal fin ray have black spots at the base, pre-dorsal vertebrae 9, pre-anal vertebrae 27, total vertebrae 108. The present report also reports the genus Diploconger for the first time from Indian waters.

First record of Gerres infasciatus Iwatsuki and Kimura 1998 (Perciformes: Gerreidae) from North-eastern coast of India

The present paper reports the occurrence of Gerres infasciatus (Perciformes: Gerreidae), the third species in the “G. filamentosus” complex, for the first time from coastal waters of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal states of India, Bay of Bengal. From India, this species was earlier known only from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Their relationship within the complex is also discussed for correct identification.