diversity of marine ornamental fishes along kerala coast

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Kovalam-Poovar belt in Thiruvananthapuram district, Thangasseri-Kollam belt in Kollam district,. Kozhikode and Kannur-Kasargode belt were identified as the ...
Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Pages 315–328 Edited by : A. Biju Kumar, M.P. Nayar, R.V. Varma and C.K. Peethambaran Copyright © 2012, Narendra Publishing House

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DIVERSITY OF MARINE ORNAMENTAL FISHES ALONG KERALA COAST T.K. Sirajudheen1* and A. Biju Kumar Dept. of Aquatic Biology & Fisheries, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram – 695 581, Kerala. *Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT The fish fauna in marine environs, particularly those associated with coral reefs, rocky pools, sea grass beds, mud flats are renowned for their colouration, peaceful nature, tiny sizes and their ability to adapt to the confines of aquarium tanks. The wide varieties of natural animals along with modern technologies in aquarium keeping like live rocks, for better management and maintenance enhances the marine ornamental fish industry day by day. Among 1,471 species of marine ornamental fishes in the international trade, as many as 400 species were occurring in coastal waters and the coral reef ecosystem surrounding the islands and mainland of India. The coral reef patches and rocky pools on the shores of the Lakshadweep sea along with artificial rocky areas formed by sea wall construction materials harbours a wide variety of marine ornamental fishes all along the 590 kms coastal line of Kerala. Even though we have a good potential of marine ornamental fishes along Kerala coast, the absence of a primary data on the availability and abundance of marine ornamental fish is a major restriction in the expansion as well as regulation of marine ornamental fish trade in the state. The current study aims an inventory to reveal the potential resources of marine ornamental fishes along Kerala coast and discusses strategies for their conservation and sustainable management. The survey conducted during May 2008 to October 2010 at rock pool areas and major fishing harbours along Kerala coast revealed the presence of 117 species of ornamental fish categorized under 9 orders, 46 families and 78 genera. Shannon diversity index of ornamental fish recorded a higher value of 4.025 in Kerala coast and the Margalef species richness was 15.74. The values of Pielou’s evenness index (0.4784) showed lesser even distribution of species, with relatively more value for dominance index 0.9739. The species-rich fish families were Pomacentridae (damsel fishes), Scorpaenidae (Scorpion fishes), Serranidae (groupers) and Lutjanidae (snappers) (8 species each). The groupers and snappers, representing the genera Epinephelus and Lutjanus with 7 species each respectively, represented the most diverse ornamental fish genera of Kerala coast followed by lion fishes of genera Pterois (4 species). Four species are new records to Kerala coast. The newly reported species were Pterois mombasae, Minous dempsterae (Family: Scorpaenidae), Epinephelus radiatus (Family: Serranidae), and Lutjanus decussatus (Family: Lutjanidae). The Kovalam-Poovar belt in Thiruvananthapuram district, Thangasseri-Kollam belt in Kollam district, Kozhikode and Kannur-Kasargode belt were identified as the areas rich in ornamental fish diversity.

Keywords: Biodiversity, Kerala, Ornamental fish, Aquarium

316

Biodiversity and Taxonomy

INTRODUCTION Marine aquarium keeping is becoming popular in all parts of the world and the trade of marine ornamental fishes in the international market is a multimillion dollar industry. A total of 1,471 species of fish are traded worldwide with the best estimate of annual global trade ranging between 20 and 24 million individuals; damselfish (Pomacentridae) make up almost half of the trade, with species of angelfish (Pomacanthidae), surgeonfish (Acanthuridae), wrasses (Labridae), gobies (Gobiidae) and butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) accounting for approximately another 25-30 percent (Wabnitz et al., 2003). The coastal waters and the coral reef ecosystem surrounding the islands and mainland of India are rich in marine ornamental fish fauna. Many studies attempted to prepare inventories of marine ornamental fish fauna of India. Ajithkumar et al. (2007) reported on 400 species of marine ornamental fishes belonging to 175 genera and 50 families in the coastal waters of India. About 150 species of marine ornamental fishes were reported from Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay areas by Ahilan and Walkhom (2007). Rao et al. (2004) reported on 64 species belonging to 36 families from Visakhapatanam. Venkataramani and Jayakumar (2005) recorded 113 marine ornamental finfish species form the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve. Chogale and Bhatkar (2006) reported on some important marine ornamental fishes of Ratnagiri coast. Sureshkumar et al. (2004) reported 40 species of marine ornamental fishes belonging to 22 families from the trawler by-catches of Ponnani fishing harbour, North Kerala. Sivaprasad et al. (2007) reported on 97 species from Vizhinjam Bay of Kerala. A compilation of data on marine fish fauna of Kerala coast documented 303 species of ornamental fish species (Bijukumar et al., 2010). The present paper presents the primary data on the diversity of marine orna-mental fishes along various coastal regions of Kerala.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was carried out along the Kerala coast during May 2008 to October 2010 (Fig.1). Live

Fig.1: Study area (unscaled)

Diversity of Marine Ornamental Fishes along Kerala Coast

317

animals were collected from Vizhinjam Bay (08022’ Lat., 76o59’ E long.) using a specially designed fish trap (Fig. 2), Kovalam (08023’ N Lat., 76o58’ E long.) and Thikkodi (11029’ N Lat., 75o36’ E long.) using modified gill nets of varying mesh sizes and hook and line. The ornamental fishes were collected from trawl nets operating from all major fishing harbours of Kerala coast namely Fig. 2: Fish trap used at Vizhinjam Bay Sakthikulangara (08o55’ N lat.; 76o32’E long.), Neendakara (08o56’ N lat.; 76o32’ E long.) at Kollam, Munambam (10010’ N Lat., 76o10’ E long.) at Eranakulam, Ponnani (10o46’ N lat.; 75o54’ E long.) at Malappuram and Puthiappa (11o 18’ N lat.; 75o44’ E long.) at Kozhikkode. The collected specimens were identified taxonomically in fresh condition by using standard identification keys such as Smith and Heemstra (1986), Nelson (1994), Munro (2000), and Froese and Pauly (2010). Biodiversity indices like Shannon Weiner index- H, Dominance-index, Margalef index of species rechiness and evenness index were calculated using PAST software (Hammer, et al., 2006)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Diversity The survey revealed presence of 117 species of ornamental fish categorized under 9 orders, 46 families and 78 genera (Table 1). Species-rich fish families in Kerala coast were Pomacentridae (Damsel fishes), Lutjanidae (Snappers), Serranidae (Groupers) and Scorpaenidae (Scorpion fishes) (8 species each) (Fig. 3). The Groupers and Snapers under the genera Epinephelus and Lutjanus with 7 species each, represented the most diverse ornamental fish genera of Kerala coast followed by genus Pterois with 4 species. Chaetodontidae, Fig. 3: Species diversity of major ornamental fish families Acanthuridae and along Kerala coast

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Biodiversity and Taxonomy

Balistidae have been recognized as fishes with high demand in international market. Of the 117 species, four species are new records to Kerala coast. The newly reported species are Minous dempsterae (Fig. 4A), Pterois mombasae (Fig. 4B) (Family: Scorpaenidae), Epinephelus radiatus (Fig. 4C) (Family: Serranidae), and Lutjanus decussates (Fig. 4D) (Family: Lutjanidae).

Fig.4:

Newly reported fishes from Kerala coast. A. Minous dempsterae, B. Pterois mombasae,C. Epinephelus radiates, D. Lutjanus decussates

Table 1. List of marine ornamental fishes of Kerala coast Sl. No.

Species

Common name

1.

Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Chondrichthyes Subclass: Elasmobranchii Order: Orectolobiformes Family:Orectolobidae Chiloscyllum griseum

Neendakara

2.

Order: Rajiformes Family: Torpedinidae Narcine timlei (Bloch & Schneidar, 1801)

Neendakara

3.

Class: Actinopterygii (ray finned fishes) Subclass: Neopterygii Order: Anguilliformes (eels and morays) Family: Muraenidae (Moray eels) Gymnothorax reticularis

Tiger Moray

Local name

Anjala, Kadal Pambu

Location

Ponnani, Neendakara

[Table Contd.

Diversity of Marine Ornamental Fishes along Kerala Coast

319

Contd. Table] Sl. No.

Species

4.

14.

Family: Congridae Conger cinerens Family: Ophichthyidae Uroconger lepturus Lamnostoma orientalis Order: Siluriformes (Eeltail catfishes) Family: Plotosidae (catfishes) Plotosus lineatus (Thunburg, 1787) Order: Bericyformes (sawbellies) Family: Holocentridae (Squirrel Fish, Soldier Fish) Sargocentron rubrum (Forsskal) Order: Syngnathiformes Family: Macroramphosidae Macroramphosus platycheilus Order: Scorpaeniformes (Scorpion fishes & Flatheads) Family: Scorpaenidae (Scorpionfishes or rockfishes) Apistus carinatus Choridactylus multibarbis Pterois miles Pterois mombasae* Pterois russelli (Bennett, 1831)

Plain tail turkey fish

Vizhinjam, Neendakara, Ponnani

15.

Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) Winged fire fish

Vizhinjam, Neendakara

16.

Minous monodactylus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

5. 6. 7.

8.

9.

10.

11. 12. 13.

Common name

Local name

Location Neendakara, Sakthikulangara Neendakara Neendakara

Striped Eel Cat fish

Vizhinjam, Neendakara

Russet squirrel fish, Red Soldier fish

Neendakara, Calicut

Sakthikulangara, Neendakara Neendakara

Calicut Lion fish

Neendakara

Calicut

Neendakara, Sakthikulangara, Ponnani

17.

Minous dempsterae*

Neendakara, Calicut

18.

Family : Dactylopteridae (Flying Gurnards) Dactyloptena orientalis (Cuvier) Family: Triglidae Lepidotrigla riggsi

Neendakara, Calicut, Ponnani

19.

Neendakara, Sakthikulangara [Table Contd.

320

Biodiversity and Taxonomy

Contd. Table] Sl. No.

Species

20.

22.

Order: Perciformes (perch-likes) Family: Ambassidae (Asiatic glassfishes) Ambassis commersoni Family: Serranidae (Sea basses: Blue lined groupers and fairy basslets) coral-cod Cephalopholis boenack (Bloch, 1790) Epinephelus areolatus

23.

Epinephelus diacanthus

Vizhinjam, Calicut, Cochin, Neendakara, Ponnani

24. 25.

Epinephelus longispinis Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Epinephelus merra (Bloch, 1793) Epinephelus radiatus* Epinephelus tauvina (Forskal, 1775) Family: Scaridae (Parrot fishes) Scarus ghobban (Forsskal, 1775) Family: Therapontidae (Grunters or tigerperches) Therapon jarbua (Forskal, 1775) Therapon theraps

Vizhinjam Vizhinjam, Neendakara Vizhinjam, Neendakara Vizhinjam

21.

26. 27. 28. 29.

30.

31.

32. 33.

Common name

Local name

Vizhinjam, Neendakara

Vizhinjam, Neendakara

Cochin, Neendakara

Malabar grouper Wire-netting reef-cod Greasy grouper

Location

Kalava

Blue-barred parrotfish, Flame parrot fish Crescent Perch, Palin Kitchen

Ponnani Vizhinjam

Vizhinjam, Neendakara, Ponnani Neendakara, Ponnani, Sakthikulangara Neendakara

Therapon puta Pelates quadrillineatus

34.

Family: Priacanthidae (Bigeyes or catalufas) Priacanthus hamrur (Forskal, 1775)

Moontail bullseye, Unnimery Crescent tail big eye

35.

Family : Apogonidae (Cardinalfishes) Apogon aureus (Lacepede, 1802)

Ring-tailed cardinalfish, Band tail Cardinal fish, golden Cardinal fish

Neendakara, Vizhinjam Vizhinjam, Calicut, Cochin, Neendakara Vizhinjam, Calicut, Neendakara Neendakara [Table Contd.

Diversity of Marine Ornamental Fishes along Kerala Coast

321

Contd. Table] Sl. No.

Species

Common name

Local name

36.

Apogon novemfasciatus Sevenstriped (Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1828) cardinalfish, Nine banded cardinal fish, Black banded cardinal fish

Vizhinjam

37.

Apogon septemstriatus (Gunther, 1880)

Vizhinjam, Calicut, Neendakara, Sakthikulangara, Ponnani,

38.

Archamia fucata

Vizhinjam

39.

Family: Lutjanidae (Snappers) Lutjanus bengalensis

Neendakara

40.

Lutjanus fulviflamma (Forskal, 1775)

Dory snapper, Golden Snapper

41.

Lutjanus russelli

One spot snapper

42.

Lutjanus decussatus*

Vizhinjam

43.

Lutjanus lutjanus

44.

Lutjanus madras

Neendakara, Ponnani, Cochin Vizhinjam

45.

Lutjanus vitta

Vizhinjam

46.

Aphareus furcatus

Vizhinjam

47.

Family: Caesionidae (Fusiliers) Caesio chrysozonus (Cuvier, 1831)

48.

Family: Nemipteridae (Threadfin Whitecheek breams, Whiptail breams) monocle bream, Scolopsis vosmeri (Bloch, 1792) Silver flash spine cheek

Vizhinjam, Ponnani, Neendakara, Cochin

49.

Parascolopsis aspinosa

Sakthikulangara

50.

Family: Haemulidae (Grunts) Pomadasys maculatum (Bloch, 1797)

51.

Diagramma pictum (Thunberg)

52.

Family: Mullidae (Goatfishes) Mulloidichthys flavolineatus

Seven banded Cardinal fish,

Pottupolan

Vizhinjam Ponnani, Cochin Ponnani, Cochin

Goldband fusilier

Saddle grunt

Location

Cochin

Kora

Vizhinjam, Neendakara, Ponnani Neendakara, Sakthikulangara Ponnani, Neendakara, Calicut, Vizhinjam, Sakthikulangara [Table Contd.

322

Biodiversity and Taxonomy

Contd. Table] Sl. No.

Species

Common name

Local name

Location

53.

Parupeneus indicus

(Shaw, 1803)

Indian goatfish

54.

Upeneus moluccensis Upeneus vittatus (Forskal, 1775) Yellowstriped/ banded goatfish Upeneus bensasi

Vizhinjam, Neendakara Ponnani

55. 56.

57. 58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

Family: Mugiloididae Parapercis punctata Family: Pempheridae (Sweepers) Pempheris mangula (Cuvier, 1829) Family: Ephippidae (Spadefishes, batfishes and scats) Platax teira (Forskal, 1775) Family: Scatophagidae (Scats) Scatophagus argus (Linnaeus, 1766) Family: Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes) Chaetodon auriga (Forskal, 1775) Chaetodon collare (Bloch, 1787)

Neendakara, Vizhinjam Ponnani, Neendakara, Cochin,Calicut Neendakara, Vizhinjam

Black-edged sweeper, Molucean sweeper

Cochin

Tiera batfish

Ponnani

Spotted scat, Scat. Nachu Spotted butterfish

Calicut, Ponnani

Threadfin butterflyfish

Vizhinjam

Redtail butterflyfish, Pakistani butterfly fish

Vizhinjam

63.

Chaetodon vagabundus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Vagabond butterfly fish, Black banded butterfly fish

Vizhinjam

64.

Heniochus acuminatus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Pennet coral fish

Vizhinjam, Neendakara Ponnani

65.

Parachaetodon ocellatus (Cuvier) Family : Echeneidae (Sucker Fish, Remoras) Echeneis naucrates (Linnaeus) Family : Carangidae (Jacks, King Fishes) Alectis ciliaris (Bloch)

66.

67.

Neendakara, Ponnani Neendakara

Neendakara, Ponnani [Table Contd.

Diversity of Marine Ornamental Fishes along Kerala Coast

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Contd. Table] Sl. No.

Species

68.

Gnathanodon speciosus (Forsskal) Trachinotus baillonii Carangoides ferdau Carangoides malabaricus Naucrates ductor Family : Drepanidae (Spotted Batfish, Sickle Fish) Drepane punctata (Linnaeus) Family : Labridae Checkerboard (Rainbow Fish, Wrasses) wrasse Halichoeres hortulanus (Lacepede, 1801) Chelinus chlorurus (Bloch, 1791) Red spotted green wrasse Thalassoma lunare Moon wrasse (Linnaeus, 1758) Hemigymnus fasciatus Family : Blenniidae (Combtooth blennies) Petroscirtus mitratus Family : Siganidae (Rabbit Fishes) Siganus canaliculatus (Park) Siganus sutor Shoemaker (Valenciennes, 1835) spinefoot, White spotted rabbit fish Siganus javus

Neendakara, Calicut

Family : Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes, tangs, unicornfishes)Acanthurus lineatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Acanthurus nigrofuscus (Forsskal, 1775) Acanthurus matoides (Valenciennes, 1835) Acanthurus dussumieri Family: Pomacanthidae (Angelfishes) Pomacanthus imperator (Bloch, 1787)

Lined surgeonfish, Blue lined surgeonfish

Vizhinjam

Brown surgeonfish, White tailed surgeon fish

Vizhinjam

Lined Surgeon fish

Ponnani

Emperor angelfish

Vizhinjam

69. 70. 71. 72. 73.

74.

75. 76. 77. 78.

79.

80.

81. 82.

83.

84. 85.

Common name

Local name

Location

Vizhinjam Vizhinjam Neendakara Vizhinjam Neendakara

Vizhinjam

Vizhinjam Vizhinjam Vizhinjam Vizhinjam

Neendakara

Vizhinjam

Vizhinjam, Ponnani

[Table Contd.

324

Biodiversity and Taxonomy

Contd. Table] Sl. No.

Species

Common name

86.

Pomacanthus semicirculatus (Cuvier, 1831)

Semicircle angelfish, Blue angel fish

87.

Centropyge multispinis

88.

Family: Pomacentridae (Damselfishes) Abudefduf saxatilis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Local name

Location Vizhinjam

Vizhinjam Sergeant major, Waigen Domoiselle

Vizhinjam, Calicut

89.

Abudefduf lacrymatus

Vizhinjam

90.

Chromis opercularis

Calicut

91.

Neopomacentrus nemurus

Vizhinjam

92.

Neopomacentrus violascens

Vizhinjam, Neendakara

93.

Neopomacentrus filamentosus

Vizhinjam

94.

Pomacentrus caeruleus

Vizhinjam

95.

Stegastes nigricans Dusky farmerfish, (Lacepede, 1802) Black damsel Family: Zanclidae (Moorish idol) Moorish idol Zanclus cornutus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Vizhinjam

96.

Vizhinjam

97.

Family: Uranoscopidae (stargazers) Uranoscopus gattatus

Vizhinjam, Ponnani, Calicut, Neendakara

98.

Family: Gerridae Gerres filementosus

Ponnani, Neendakara, Calicut

99.

Gerres oblongus

Neendakara

100. Family: Leiognathidae Leiognathus daura

Ponnani, Neendakara, Calicut

101. Leiognathus equalus

Ponnani, Neendakara, Calicut

102. Leiognathus blochii

Ponnani, Neendakara, Calicut

103. Secutor insidiator

Ponnani, Neendakara, Calicut [Table Contd.

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Contd. Table] Sl. No.

Species

Common name

Local name

Location

104. Secutor ruconius

Ponnani, Neendakara, Calicut

105. Gazza minuta

Ponnani, Neendakara

106. Family: Pentacerotidae

Ponnani,

Histiopterus typus 107. Family: Polynemidae Polynemus heptadactylus 108. Order: Tetradontiformes Family: Balistidae (Trigger Fishes) Odonus niger (Rüppell, 1836)

Neendakara

109. Sufflamen fraenatus (Latreille1804)

Neendakara Redtoothed triggerfish, Trigger fish

Vizhinjam, Neendakara, Ponnani, Calicut

Masked triggerfish, Marked file fish, Kukula maha

Neendakara, Vizhinjam

110. Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus

Vizhinjam

111. Family : Monacanthidae (Filefishes) Aluterus mpnoceros

Ponnani

112. Cantherhines pardalis (Ruppell, 1837)

Honeycomb file fish

113. Family : Tetraodontidae (Puffer Fish, Blow Fish, Toad Fish) Arothron hispidus (Linnaeus, 1758)

White-spotted puffer, Whitespotted blassop, White-spotted blown fish

Vizhinjam Neendakara

114. Arothron immaculatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Immaculate puffer, Immaculate blown fish, Black edged blossop

Vizhinjam Neendakara

115. Lagocephalus inermis (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850)

Smooth blaasop, Smooth backed blow fish

Vizhinjam, Calicut, Neendakara, Ponnani

Vizhinjam

116. Lagocephalus lunaris

Vizhinjam

117. Family : Diodontidae Spot-fin (Porcupine Fish) porcupinefish, Diodon hystrix (Linnaeus, 1758) porcupinefish

Neendakara, Vizhinjam

* Newly reported species from Kerala coast.

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Biodiversity and Taxonomy

Biodiversity Indices The biodiversity indices of Marine ornamental fishes of Kerala coast is presented in Table 2. Shannon diversity index of ornamental fish recorded a higher value of 4.025 in Kerala coast and the Margalef species richness was 15.74. The values of Pielou’s evenness index (0.4784) showed lesser even distribution of species, with relatively more value for dominance index (0.9739). Table 2: Biodiversity indices of Marine ornamental fishes of Kerala coast Taxa

117

Individuals

1584

Simpson_1-D

0.9739

Shannon_H

4.025

Pielou’s evenness

0.4784

Margalef

15.74

DISCUSSION Highly productive coastal waters and presence of shallow rocky pools and reef patches along the southwest and northwest cost coasts of Kerala would be the major reasons for the higher diversity of ornamental fish recorded. Traps represented the major fishing gears used for the collection of marine ornamental fish along Kerala coast and there is an unorganized sector working for the collection of live fish. The Kovalam - Poovar belt in Thiruvananthapuram district, Thangasseri - Kollam belt in Kollam district, Kozhikode and Kannur-Kasargode belt were recorded as the areas rich in ornamental fish varieties. The results also indicated that Vizhinjam Bay is an ideal habitat of marine ornamental fishes. Majority of ornamental fish species available in Vizhinjam Bay are fishes of the families Pomacentridae, Acanthuridae, Balistidae, Labridae, Pomacanthidae and Chaetodontidae. Sivaprasad et al., (2007) reported about 97 species including above listed groups inhabiting Vizhinjam Bay.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors thank Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment for financial support of the work.

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