Myctophids of Western Indian Ocean with special reference to Eastern Arabian Sea Thesis submitted to Cochin University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment for the award of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Under the faculty of MARINE SCIENCES By MEERA K.M Reg. No. 4324 Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology Ministry of Earth Sciences Kochi - 682037 March 2018 Myctophids of Western Indian Ocean with Special Reference to Eastern Arabian Sea Ph. D. Thesis in Marine Sciences Author Meera K.M Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India Block C, 6th Floor, Kendriya Bhavan, Kakkanad Kochi 682037, Kerala, India e-mail: [email protected] Supervising Guide Dr. V. N. Sanjeevan Former Director Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India th Block C, 6 Floor, Kendriya Bhavan, Kakkanad Kochi 682037, Kerala, India Email: [email protected] March, 2018 Front Cover A Headlight Fish (Diaphus sp.) CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the thesis entitled “Myctophids of Western Indian Ocean with special reference to Eastern Arabian Sea” is an authentic record of the research work carried out by Ms. Meera K.M. (Reg. No.: 4324), 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. Further certified that all relevant corrections and modifications suggested during the pre-synopsis seminar and recommended by the Doctoral Committee have been incorporated in the thesis. Dr. V. N. Sanjeevan Former Director Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology Ministry of Earth Sciences Kendriya Bhavan, Kakkanad Kochi 682037, Kerala, India Kochi March, 2018 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the thesis entitled “Myctophids of Western Indian Ocean with special reference to Eastern Arabian Sea” is an authentic record of research work conducted by me under the supervision of Dr. V. N. Sanjeevan, Former Director, Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE), Kochi and no part of it has been presented for any other degree or diploma in any University. Meera K.M. (Reg. No.: 4324) Acknowledgements My deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to my supervising guide Dr. V. N. Sanjeevan (Former Director, CMLRE) for providing inspiration, for his timely guidance and constant support. The freedom of work accorded by him and his patient, timely, measured criticism has been invaluable to me in my research career. I also express my deepest gratitude to Dr. M. Sudhakar (Director, CMLRE) and Dr. P. Madeswaran (Former Director, CMLRE) for providing facilities and for their encouragement. I express my sincere thanks to Dr. Sheeba P. (Assistant Professor) of Vimala College and to the faculty of Department of Marine Biology Microbiology and Biochemistry, CUSAT for their constant encouragement right from my student days. This work was carried out as part of the project “Deep-Sea and Distant Water Fishery Resources of the Indian EEZ‟ under Marine Living Resources (MLR) Programme of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, implemented by the Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology, Kochi. I express my gratitude to Dr. G. V. M. Gupta (Scientist F & Member-RC) and Dr. Hashim Manjebrayakath (Scientist D & Project Coordinator) for their encouragement and support. This thesis would not have come to fruition without the support extended to me by Dr. Smitha B. R. (Scientist D). I also thank Dr. A. Shivaji (Scientist E), Mr. N. Saravanane (Scientist E), Dr. Sherine S. Cubelio (Scientist D), Dr. Anil Kumar Vijayan (Scientist D), Mrs. Ashadevi C. R. (Scientist D), Mr. Telson Noronha (Scientist B), Mr. C. Vasu (Scientist C), Mr. M. Subramanian (Scientist C), Mr. Abdul Basheer (Former PA to Director) and Mr. B. Kishore Kumar (STA) of CMLRE for all their co-operation during the period of work. I also thank the faculty members of the Dept. of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, CUSAT - Dr. Babu Philip, Dr. A. V. Saramma, Dr. A. A. Mohamed Hatha, Dr. Bijoy Nandan and Dr. Aneykutty Joseph for their encouragement. The support and cooperation from the FORV Sagar Sampada Vessel Management team at CMLRE led by Dr. A. Shivaji (Scientist E) as well as the Captain, Crew, Chief Scientists and scientific team of FORVSS Cruises are gratefully acknowledged, as is the cooperation extended by the Fishing Master Mr. Thomas Paul, Fishing Hands Mr. Tapan Kumar Malo, Mr. S. B. Prakash, Mr. Pradeep, Mr. Binoy V., Mr. Rathinavel and Mr. Sunil Kumar and service engineers of M/s. Norinco Pvt. Ltd. I sincerely acknowledge the constant and tireless support of teammates Dr. Usha V. Parameswaran, Ms. K. P. Deepa, Dr. Vinu Jacob, Mr. Rithin Joseph, Ms. Aiswarya Gopal, Mrs. Renjini T. N., Mrs Sree Renjima G. I am equally fortunate and grateful for the kindness and timely support extended to me by Mr Shileesh, Mr. Midhun Shah Hussein and Mr. Muhammed Rafeeq during the preparation of this thesis. I thank colleagues Mr. Sumod K. S., Mr. Rajeesh Kumar M. P., Dr. Aneesh Kumar, Ms. Chippy Khader, Mr. Thomy R., Mr. Maneesh T. P., Dr. Lathika Cicily Thomas, Mr. Lijin Nambiar, Mr Jijith S. S., Mr. Niyas M. A. Ms. Nayana and Ms. Neetha for timely support. I thank my seniors Dr. Vipin P. M., Dr. Manju Sebastine, Dr. Raghu Prakash, Dr. M. P. Ramesan for all their support during the period of this work. I am grateful to Dr. Usha Parameswaran for the cover design of this thesis. I also thank Ms. Nikitha S. Linda, and my cousin Ambili Gopakumar, Mrs Ansona N, Ms Diksha Dikshit for extending timely help in typesetting this thesis. I sincerely thank Ms Mariyakutty P. J., Mrs. Bijimol and Mrs. Mini M. K. for their timely help in the laboratory. Last, but certainly not least, I express my sincere gratitude to my family – my Late grandfather, Acha, Amma, Achamma, my brother, my Husband, my Son Dhruv, my parents-in-law, my Sister in Law Suja, her husband Sacheendran and My Nieces Thapasya and Keerthana, my aunty Bindhu and uncle Gopan for their patience and support while I undertook the task of completing my thesis. Meera K. M. Dedication To My family INDEX Page No. Acknowledgements List of figures List of tables List of acronyms & abbreviations Chapter - 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ..................................... 1-28 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................... 1 1.2 Myctophids of World Ocean ............................................. 12 1.3 Myctophids of Indian Ocean ............................................. 16 1.4 The Study Area ................................................................ 23 1.5 Objectives ......................................................................... 26 1.6 Outline of the thesis ......................................................... 27 Chapter – 2 STUDY AREA, SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS .............. 29-53 2.1 Study area ....................................................................... 29 2.2 Sampling ......................................................................... 32 2.2.1 Details of Gear used for sampling .................................. 35 2.3 Taxonomic analysis ........................................................... 37 2.3.1 Estimation of biomass ............................................ 38 2.3.2 Biology of Myctophids .................................................. 39 2.4 Data analysis ................................................................... 44 Chapter - 3 MYCTOPHIDS OF WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: SPECIES DIVERSITY & SYSTEMATICS ................................. 55-183 3.1. Introduction ......................................................................... 55 3.2. Methodology: ....................................................................... 59 3.3. Results and discussion. ......................................................... 61 3.3.1. Sampling sufficiency. .................................................... 61 3.3.2. Check-list of myctophids from WIO ............................... 65 3.3.3 Systematic Description ................................................. 67 3.3.4 Diversity of Myctophids in the NEAS, SEAS and WEIO ........................................................ 161 Chapter - 4 DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE OF MYCTOPHIDS FROM WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN .. 185-268 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................... 185 4.2 Results .................................................................................. 195 4.2.1 Regional Variations in species assemblages of Myctophids ................................................................ 195 4.2.2 Similarity/ dissimilarity of myctophid assemblages in the three eco-regions: ........................... 198 4.2.2.1 NEAS .................................................................... 199 4.2.2.2 SEAS .................................................................... 199 4.2.2.3 WEIO .................................................................... 199 4.2.3 Distribution and abundance of Myctophids in Western Indian Ocean ............................................ 206 4.2.4 Distribution of species in the study area ....................... 209 4.2.5 Linking Myctophid assemblages & environment ........... 213 4.2.6 Biomass