Iranian Journal of Ichthyology
Volume:6 Issue: 3, Sep 2019

A 23.6mm SL specimen of the scapular goby, Palutrus scapulopunctatus was collected from a shallow rocky reef interspersed with sandy coastline of the Qeshm Island during a fish survey in May 2018. This report documents a significant range extension of P. scapulopunctatus into the most western parts of Indo-Pacific regions, in the Iranian intertidal coast of Persian Gulf. The morphological description of collected individual is given and discussed.

The present study gives an updated checklist of the species belonging to the family Haemulidae. Information on the status of 402 nominal species, including 131 valid species, 235 synonyms, 20 incertae sedis, 10 nomina nuda, and six non-haemulid species, are given. Original spelling of the names, authorship and date of publication have been checked against the Eschmeyer Catalog of Fishes on line (ECoF) (Fricke et al. 2019). The valid genera and species are listed alphabetically in the two currently recognized subfamilies, together with their synonyms, type information, and distributions. Examination of the original descriptions of previously unplaced species led to identification of senior synonyms and junior synonyms. The senior synonyms are: Dentex diplodon Bowdich, 1825, Lutjanus brasiliensis Bloch & Schneider, 1801, Anthias formosus Bloch, 1792 and Pristipomus brasiliensis Lichtenstein, 1823. They represent available names which are never been used (nomina oblita) and predate the following well established fish names which are here regarded as nomina protecta: Pomadasys perotaei (Cuvier, 1830), Rhonciscus crocro (Cuvier, 1830), Haemulon sciurus (Shaw, 1803) and Brachygenys chrysargyreum (Günther, 1859). Mylacrodon Regan, 1903 is a synonym of Boridia Cuvier, 1830.

Underwater Visual Census (UVC) and Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) are broadly used methods to study fish assemblages in marine and estuarine environments. This study compared the results of BRUV and UVC methods for assessing seasonal trends in coral reef fish assemblages in a marginal reef in the northern Persian Gulf. In doing so, seasonal surveys of coral reef fishes were done using BRUV and UVC methods. Comparison of assemblage metrics driven from each method indicated that both methods may reveal similar patterns of seasonal changes in fish and trophic group assemblages while there may be between-method differences in species richness, total abundance, and trophic group abundances. The observed differences may be related to the longer sampling times of BRUV.

Landmark-based geometric morphometric (GM) analysis was carried out in the present study on the species of the family Leiognathidae. Pattern of shape variation along the axes of the principal components and canonical variates were analyzed after the General Procrustes analysis. Canonical variates analysis confirmed the occurrence of eleven species of the family Leiognathidae along the Gopalpur-on-Sea, Odisha coast. Further, inter-specific shape variation among the species of the family were carried out using Discriminant function analysis, which would help us to understand the morphological divergence with respect to shape.

This study was conducted to determine reproductive biology of Spotfin flathead Grammoplites suppositus for a period 16 months from November 2016 to April 2018 in coastal waters of the Persian Gulf. Sampling was carried out by shrimp bottom trawl net as bycatch and a total of 635 fish were examined during the study period. The recorded results showed that the sex ratio between male:female was not significantly being 1:1 throughout the study period with 55.28% of fish was female. Analysis of morphological maturity stages of ovary was showed that G. suppositus can spawn in throughout the year with a peak from November to March. Also, the GSI was uptrend in November to February and then declined from March in the region. The minimum size of the female G. suppositus that reaches the sexual maturity was observed in the size classes 160-179 mm of total length. The Lm50% was estimated at 199.4 mm of total length for this flathead fish.

In this research work, biology of Creole perch, Percichthys trucha, the largest top predator in the North Patagonia’s freshwater communities, in a deep oligotrophic lake in the region, focusing on (i) the differential use of littoral depth strata by age, (ii) age at maturity and spawning season and (iii) occurrence of reproductive migrations to vegetated shorelines has been described. Individuals from 12 locations within the lake were sampled and found that P. trucha makes differential use of the littoral zone through the year and through its life stages. From hatching and through their first year, juveniles prefer shallow vegetated littoral strata; 50% of the individuals have reached maturity at 1-year-old, and all are reproductive by 3-year-old. Overall, our results show that the reproductive behavior of P. trucha improves habitat connectivity between different zones of the lake and between the lake and other lakes connected to it by tributary streams.

In the present study length-weight relationships (LWR) were studied for seven important fish species of Kashmir Himalaya. Khont, Schizothorax plagiostomus (Heckel, 1838), Chush, S. labiatus (MeCalland, 1842), Chirruh, S. esocinus (Heckel, 1838), Ale gad, S. niger (Heckel, 1838), Satter gad, S. curvifrons (Heckel, 1838), Ara gurun, Triplophysa kashmirensis (Hora, 1922) and Ara gurun, T. marmorata (Heckel, 1838). During the study period 2017-2018, a total 280 samples of seven fish species were collected from various water bodies (Sindh, Jhelum and Vishu rivers). Prior to this study, LWR of two species T. kashmirensis and T. marmorata were unknown to fish database. The findings of the present study will be useful for the conservation and management of above indigenous fish species of Kashmir Himalaya which are declining day by day.