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
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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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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.
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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
323
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.
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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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