Stranding of Masturus lanceolatus (Actinopterygii: Molidae) in the estuary of the Una River, Pernambuco, Brazil: natural and anthropogenic causes

Abstract

Molidae are tropical marine teleosts that occur in all oceans. Among the species described, Masturus lanceolatus is considered rare on the Brazilian coast, with only four records found in scientific publications. The present study reports the first occurrence of this species for the coast of the State of Pernambuco (north-eastern Brazil) and discusses the possible causes of its being stranded. The specimen was found alive in the estuary of the Una River in the city of São José da Coroa Grande on the southern coast of the state. The fish was unknown to the local community of fishermen, who considered it a 'bad omen'. The occurrence led to an environmental education project in the community carried out by members of the Tropical Marine Ichthyology Group, which carried out an inspection, documentation, analysis of external injuries and collection of viscera for the subsequent histological analysis. After undergoing taxidermy, the specimen was donated to the Una Museum. Analysis revealed that the fish suffered from an intense inflammatory process of the liver caused by polycystosis of nematodes and Trypanorhyncha, which resulted in malnutrition, as observed by the low body weight. Moreover, a likely stranding left the specimen more vulnerable to different species of shark, which mutilated it, hindering its locomotion. This fish appears to have drifted and was thrown against the reefs near the estuary before its stranding.

A record of sharp-tail mola, Masturus lanceolatus (Liénard, 1840) (Molidae) in the Sea of Oman

“…The size of the present specimen falls just above the half size given by Araújo et al. (). The remaining body proportions agree with those given by other authors (Table ).…”

“…As far as the authors are aware, very few studies have ever provided morphological measurements for sunfish specimens collected from the seas of the world (Arumugam et al., ; Chellappa et al., ). A few authors have only given the total length for their specimens (Lopes et al., ; Ramamoorthy et al., ; Araújo et al., ). The full morphological data were compared with that of the present study (Table ).…”

First record of Mola ramsayi from the Sea of Oman, Sultanate of Oman

“…Such a state enabled attacks from predators and probably from parasites. Accidental entanglement in fishing gear is one of the main threats to M. ramsayi populations in particular (Araújo et al, 2010) and mola populations in general, as species from the family are often reported as by-catch in lone-line fisheries (Joung et al, 2005) and drift nets (Akiol et al, 2005).…”

New locality of sharp-tail sunfish (Masturus lanceolatus) in Indian waters

“…Konow et al (2006) opined that Molas, thrives in a marine environment where reefs are abundant, the inhabitant fish belonging to families Chaetodontidae and Pomacanthidae helps in cleaning off the ectoparasites. The longevity of Masturus lanceolatus is estimated at 105 and 82 years for female and male respectively (Araújo et al, 2010). Although Lakshadweep Sea is known to have beautiful dense coral reefs, this is the first record of Masturus in this area and no ectoparasites were noticed on the body of the species.…”

“…They are also considered to spend most of their time in depths less than 200 m, preferring a temperature of more than 208C (Seitz et al, 2002). They have well developed grotesque rounded bodies with gigantic size (Kulkarni, 1953;Arumugam et al, 1994) ordaining the position of the world's heaviest marine teleosts, having a very tall and laterally flat body (Araújo et al, 2010). Konow et al (2006) opined that Molas, thrives in a marine environment where reefs are abundant, the inhabitant fish belonging to families Chaetodontidae and Pomacanthidae helps in cleaning off the ectoparasites.…”