Resumen de Distributional Record of Crested Hairtail, Tentoriceps cristatus (Trichiuridae) at Central West Coast of India
A. Anuraj, P. P. Suresh Babu, N. S. Jeena, K. V. Akhilesh, Aditya Haridas Kamath, R Ratheesh Kumar, K A Sajeela, Mahendra Pal, P Anjulekshmi, Boby Ignatius
Tentoriceps Whitley 1948 is a monotypic genus in Trichiuridae family. The present article reports the first occurrence of the sole species in this genus, the crested hairtail, T. cristatus from Goa. The morphometric and genetic study based on the three specimens landed at Cutbona jetty, Goa confirmed the occurrence of this species in this region. The species is characterized by an extremely elongate and strongly compressed, ribbon-like body. The dorsal profile of the head is evenly convex. The species lacks a caudal fin, and the short pectoral fin does not reach the lateral line, which runs more closely to ventral profile. The morphometric measurements and meristic counts of the specimens were also compared with previous reports. The COI sequences generated from the specimen showed 99.85% identity to T. cristatus with 99% query coverage. The study confirms the distribution of this species in the central west coast region (Goa) along with their previous record in southwest and northwest coast of India.
