Fifteen new records of Batoids (Elasmobranchii) from waters off Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Abstract

Marine waters of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India in the tropical Indian Ocean, is a poorly explored high faunal diverse region. The present study documents new records of batoids from the region, identified during the fishery and diversity monitoring surveys conducted during November 2016 to June 2019 at different fish landing centers of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Fifteen elasmobranch species including 2 wedgefishes, 1 skate and 12 rays were identified and confirmed as new reports for the region. Results of this study indicate that the elasmobranch diversity, especially batoid diversity of Andaman and Nicobar Islands are poorly documented and future systematic surveys including that of deeper reef habitat may help to explore the diversity in the region.

Mitochondrial phylogeny of fusilier fishes (family Caesionidae) from the Laccadive archipelago reveals a new species and two new records from the Central Indian Ocean

“…Caesio striata is known to be confined to the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea (Fricke et al, 2023; Holleman et al, 2013), and its occurrence in the Laccadive archipelago needs to be confirmed using voucher specimens and supporting genetic data. Pisinnicaesio pisang , a widely distributed species in the Indo‐West Pacific ranging from South Africa to Australia (Fricke et al, 2023), has been recorded previously from the Laccadive group of islands (Jones & Kumaran, 1964), where it represented a very minor part of the live bait fishery, mostly concentrated in the Minicoy Islands (Nasser, 1999).…”

Identification, relationship and population status of sharks and rays landed at Rigaih Fishing Port as an effort of genetic conservation to endangered biota

“…Hemigaleus microstoma (Sicklefin weasel shark) generally lives in shallow waters and is distributed along the waters of India, China, and Southeast Asia. It has a relatively small body size and spends much time on the bottom of the water by preying on biota that belong to the cephalopod class (Bineesh et al, 2020). Sphyrna lewini (Scalloped hammerhead) has a long front dorsal fin body morphology, a shorter hind dorsal fin, and a long caudal fin tip.…”