Resumen de New Distributional Records of Twelve Reef Fishes from Lakshadweep Waters, India
B. Sandra, Alvin Anto, Miriam Paul Sreeram, K. R. Sreenath, K. R. Aju, K. M. Sreekumar, K. V. Akhilesh, K. K. Joshi
Previous fish faunal studies have indicated that 144 families, 432 genera, and 856 species are extant in the Lakshadweep archipelago. In the present study, 12 new records are added to the Lakshadweep fish diversity. The new records include Harlequin sweetlips (Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides), Three-stripe fusilier (Pterocaesio trilineata), Hector’s goby (Koumansetta hectori), Large toothed cardinalfish (Cheilodipterus macrodon), Coral hawkfish (Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus), One-spot wormfish (Gunnellichthys monostigma), Imposter fangblenny (Plagiotremus phenax), Disco blenny (Meiacanthus smithi), Maldives damselfish (Amblyglyphidodon indicus), Orange spotted spinefoot (Siganus guttatus), Spotfin burrfish (Chilomycterus reticulatus), and filament finned parrotfish (Scarus altipinnis). Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides, S. altipinnis and G. monostigma are new records to Indian fish fauna. The current study enhances the fish faunal records of Lakshadweep archipelago to being represented by 435 genera and 868 extant species, with Koumensetta, Gunnellichthys and Chilomycterus genera being recorded here for the first time. The observations were made through underwater visual census by SCUBA and snorkeling in the lagoon and fore-reef area of a single island, Kavaratti, one of the 12 atolls of Lakshadweep archipelago, from January to March 2021. Identifications of the new records were confirmed through photography and videography.
