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Check List of Rocky Reef Associated of Rocky Reef Associated Fishes Of Research Journal of Marine Sciences ____________________________________ ______ _______ ISSN 2321-1296 Vol. 7(1), 1-13, June (2019) Res. J. Marine Sci. Check list of rocky reef associated fishes of south Kerala coast, India Baiju P.T. 1* , Prabhakaran M.P. 2, Benno Pereira F.G. 3 and V. Jayaprakas 4 1Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram 695581 Kerala, India 2Department of Aquatic Environment Management, School of Fisheries RM & HT, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Panangad, Kochi – 682506, Kerala, India 3Department of Zoology, Uni versity of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram -695581 Kerala, India 4Amity Thiruvananthapuram Center for Marine Science and Technology 3 Ravi Nagar, Ambalamukku, Peroorkada, P.O., Thiruvananthap uram- 695005, India [email protected] Available online at: www.isca.in, www.isca.me Received 25 th November 2018, revised 21 st March 2019, accepted 28 th April 2019 Abstract In this manuscript a checklist of 232 species of rocky reef associated fishes,a least documented area of tropical ichthyofauna recorded from the rocky reefs of south Kerala coast of the Indian Subcontinent. This 232 fish species were reported in the present study belong to 2 Classes, 16 Orders, 62 Families and 114Genera. Among the 62 Families recorded in the study, Pomacentridae the found as most specious family with 20 species of fishes belongs to 7 genera and followed by Labridae (18), Lutjanidae (15), Chaetodontidae (11), Apogonidae (10), Acanthuridae (11), Muraenidae (9), Serranida e (9), Scorpaenidae (8), Blenniidae (8), Haemulidae (6) , Mullidae (6), Holocentridae(5), Carangidae (5), Gobiidae(5) and Balistidae (5). Among the listed species, 141 species records asLeast Concern, followed by Not Included 77 species, Data Deficient 8 spe cies, Near Threatened 5 species, and Endangered and Vulnerable categories are 1 on each. Keywords: Rocky reefs, Reef ichthyofauna , South Kerala, IUCN status, visual documentation. Introduction both biotic and a biotic factors influences the biotic assemblages of reef 16 . Shallow continental shelves contributing the 40% of the species 1-3 inhabit tropical or subtropical waters . Total enlisted fish Among the different biodiversity estimation methods, 4 species are around 32,100 in the world . The ichthyofaunal underwater visual census method can claim a set of benefits diversity and assemblage of the rocky intertidal pool of the over other. It is very useful for fish abundance estimations Watamu Marine National Park of Kenya studied and reported in because they are in depended of fishing methods, easy to do, 5 biquadrates sampling . India is a biodiversity rich country both minimum lab work, effective for rapiddocumentation of reef in fresh water and marine resources, endowed with 29,000km of fish diversity and assemblage and the method do not affect the 2 watercourses and 2.02 million km area of the Exclusive ecosystem in anyway. Even though, the method has certain 6 Economic Zone (EEZ) and 8129km of coastline including . demerits like difficult ies of snorkeling and diving, tendency to Indian marine fish diversity encompasses of about 2456 species miss too small or ambiguous species, chances of observational, reported from various parts of the country, with the major identification, counting recording errors 17 and chance to miss contribution of 1200 species from Andaman and Nicobar the species wise variations, the fishes may scared due to the followed by Gulf of Kutch 402 species, Lakshadweep 603 presence of divers and ref lections from camera are the most 7 species and Gulf of Mannar 762 species respectively . Many commonly observed de merits of this method 18,19 . studies were done extensively in the country and estimated the 8 diversity of major reef fish groups of Indian waters . Coral reef There are more reports on the diversity of edible and ornamental fish fauna of the country was documented in various parts of the fishes of this area 20-22 , but it’s rare to find the works on rocky country, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 720 s pecies belonging to shore ichthyofaunal diversity except the fewreports 23,24 . From 9 10 90 families , the Gulf of Mannar 71 species, Kavaratti Island the previous literature survey, it is found that, survey 11 of Lakshadweep 121 species belonging to 27 families and 56 accomplished on fish biodiversity of Kerala coastal waters, 12 species was recorded from Mithapur reef of Gulf of Kutch . were restricted in such a way of data collections were made from the fish landing centers and other traditional aid s like fish Underwater visual survey (UVS) made by snorkeling is the traps, hook and line, scoop nets and gill nets, etc. Because of most widely accepted observational method for documenting their specialty in fish catching, there was restricted diversity 13 the shallow water reef fish diversity . In the reef ecosystems, were observed in that study results. From reviewing the the spatial and temporal fish diversity was determined by available literature survey and analysis, it is noticed tha t this is a 14,15 regional ecological paremeters . The ecological parameters fresh attempt to assess the reef ichthyofaunal diversity study on International Science Community Association 1 Research Journal of Marine Sciences ___ ___________________________ _____ ___________________ _______ ISSN 2321-1296 Vol. 7(1), 1-13, June (2019) Res. J. Marine Sci. the rocky reefs of south Kerala coast. There is no other effort to Results and discussion describe the diversity and assemblage studies coupled in a string, on behalf of rocky reef ichthyofaunal divers ity, which is The 232 fish species were reported in the present study belong a prominent biota of intertidal ecosystems. The manuscript to 2 Classes, 16 Orders, 62 Families and 114 Genera (Table-1). encompasses the primary data on diversity of rocky reef fishes of Mulloor, Vizhinjam, Kovalam (Thiruvananthapuram) and Table-1: Taxonomy of reef fishes observed in the study. Common IUCN Thirumullavaram (Kollam) coast, South west coast of India. Scientific Name And t he present study receives the special attention due to its Name Status methods adopted for diversity assessment that is underwater Class: Chondrichthyes, Subclass: Elasmobranchii, visual sense method find more reliable to record the Order: Orectolobiformes, Family : Hemiscyll iidae ichthyofaunal diversity from their natural habitat. (Bamboo sharks) Slender Chiloscyllium indicum Near bamboo Materials and methods (Gmelin, 1789) Threatened shark The study involves the following ways of assessment methods. Order : Torpediniformes, Family : Torpedinidae Snorkelingsurvey with underwater visual census method was (Electric rays) adopted for the study ; video recording and line transect method Torpedo sinuspersici Variable Data 25 for assessing the reef fish diversity . Fish specimens were Olfers, 1831 torpedo ray Deficient collected by using of fish traps, scoop nets, hook and line and gillnets for confirming the species. The survey took an effort to Family : Narcinidae (Numb fishes) study the diversity of rocky reef associated fishes of the coastal Narcine brunnea Brown Not waters of the southern Kerala, extending from Mulloor (Annandale, 1909) numb fish Included (8022’02’’ N 77000’12’ E) to Thirumullavaram (8053’54.0’’ N 76033’04.5’’ E) in an in-situ way of documentation. The Order : Myliobatiformes, Family : Dasyatidae (Stingrays) conventional reef monitoring methods like snorkel, underwater Brevitrygon walga Dwarf whip Near photography or videotaping and visual documentation were (Müller & Henle, 1841) ray Threatened 26-31 used for the study . The c ollected specimen s were identified Brevitrygon imbricata Scaly whip Data 32-34 by using standard references and the species names were (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) ray Deficient 35 updated with FISHBASE . Superclass: Osteostracomorphi, Class: Actinopterigii/Ray Finned Fishes/Osteichthyes Bony Fish, Order: Anguilliformes (True eels and Moray eel), Family: Muraenidae (Moray eels) Echidna nebulosa Snow flake Least (Ahl, 1789) moray Concern Echidna nocturna Freckled Least (Cope, 1872) moray Concern Gymnothorax favagineus Laced Not (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) moray Included Gymnothorax javanicus Not Giant moray (Bleeker, 1859) Included Gymnothorax meleagris Turkey Not (Shaw, 1795) moray Included Gymnothorax pictus Paint spotted Not (Ahl, 1789) moray Included Gymnothorax High fin Not pseudothyrsoideus moray Included (Bleeker, 1853) Gymnothorax steindachneri Steindachne Not (Jordan and Evermann, 1903) r's moray eel Included Muraenaretifera Reticulate Least (Goode and Bean, 1882) moray Concern Order: Siluriformes, Family: Plotosidae (Eel tail catfishes) Euristhmusmicroceps Small head Not (Richardson, 1845) catfish Included Figure-1: Location map of the study sites. International Science Community Association 2 Research Journal of Marine Sciences _____________________________________________________________ ISSN 2321-1296 Vol. 7(1), 1-13, June (2019) Res. J. Marine Sci. Common IUCN Common IUCN Scientific Name Scientific Name Name Status Name Status Plotosus limbatus Dark fin eel Least Dendrochirus zebra Zebra turkey Least (Valenciennes, 1840) catfish Concern (Cuvier, 1829) fish Concern Plotosus lineatus Striped eel Not Parascorpaena picta Northern Least (Thunberg, 1787) cat fish Included (Cuvier, 1829) scorpion fish Concern Order : Aulopiformes (Lizardfish), Parascorpaena aurita Golden Least Family: Synodontidae (Lizard fishes) (Ruppell, 1838) scorpion fish Concern Synodus indicus
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