Thesis submitted to COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in MARINE BIOLOGY Under the FACULTY OF MARINE SCIENCES RAJEESH KUMAR M. P. Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology Ministry of Earth Sciences Kochi- 682037 JUNE 2018 Deep-sea Anglerfishes (Pisces- Lophiiformes) of the Indian EEZ: Systematics, Distribution and Biology Ph. D. Thesis in Marine Biology Author Rajeesh Kumar M. P. Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India Block C, 6th Floor, Kendriya Bhavan, Kakkanad Kochi682037, Kerala, India Email:
[email protected] Supervising Guide Dr. V. N. Sanjeevan Former Director Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India Block C, 6th Floor, Kendriya Bhavan, Kakkanad Kochi682037, Kerala, India Email:
[email protected] June 2018 Front cover New species of Himantolophus (Ceratioidei: Himantolophidae) collected onboard FORV Sagar Sampada from Andaman Sea. Cover Design- Shebin Jawahar This is to certify that the thesis entitled ―Deep-sea Anglerfishes (Pisces- Lophiiformes) of the Indian E.EZ: Systematics, Distribution and Biology‖ is an authentic record of the research work carried out by Mr. Rajeesh Kumar M. P. (Reg. No.: 4323), under my scientific supervision and guidance at the Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE), Kochi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Cochin University of Science & Technology and that no part thereof has been presented before for the award of any other degree, diploma or associateship in any University.