Paratrypauchen microcephalus (Bleeker, 1860)

Ruidas, Haradhan, Mohanty, Swarup Ranjan, Rana, Saumyapriya, Roy, Sanmitra & Mohapatra, Anil, 2020, First report of the genus Paratrypauchen Murdy, 2008 (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae: Amblyopinae) from the Odisha coast, India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 120 (3), pp. 289-291 : 290

Paratrypauchen microcephalus (Bleeker, 1860)

1860. Trypauchen microcephalus Bleeker, Acta Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Indo - Neêrlandicae, 8 (4): 62 (Sungiduri, Indonesia).

Material examined: EBRC /ZSI F11297, 2 ex., 63.4 – 110 mm, Arjyapalli fish landing centre, Odisha, 07.vii.2019, Haradhan Ruidas and Swarup Ranjan Mohanty .

Diagnostic characters: Body elongated and laterally compressed. Head slightly compressed and scaleless, 5.4 – 6.0 in standard length (SL), preanal length 2.7 – 2.8 in SL (Table 1). Eye, 17.1 – 20.2 in head length dorsal margin of operculum having a pouch-like cavity, frontal crest subdermal and no serration along dorsal margin. Abdomen scaleless and pelvic fins connected medially but not emarginated posteriorly and without disc. Longitudinal scale rows 62 – 69. Mouth large and oblique upper and lower jaws with three rows of slightly curved canine teeth medially and two rows laterally. The pelvic fin connected medially but emarginated posteriorly. Scales cycloid and extend from just dorsal to pectoral fin base to caudal fin.

Colour: Body reddish pink in colour; head light pink; dorsal, anal and the caudal fins whitish pink; colour of the scaleless abdomen portion white. In preserved specimen, the body whitish gray and fins are ducky in colour ( Figure 1 ).

Distribution: Paratrypauchen microcephalus is reported from Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Mozambique, and South Africa ( Murdy, 2008). In India, it is reported from Andaman ( Rajan et al., 2013), Sundarbans, West Bengal ( Chatterjee et al., 2013), Tamil Nadu ( Mogalekar et al., 2017) and Maharashtra ( Singh & Yazdani, 1993).

Table 1. Morphometric characteristics of Paratrypauchen microcephalus (Bleeker, 1860)

Characters Measurements (mm)

Total Length 63.4 – 110

Standard Length 54.3 – 92.5

In standard length

Body depth at dorsal fin origin 7.1 – 7.3

Body depth at anus 7.3 – 8.2

Height of dorsal fin 28.0 – 28.6

Length of soft dorsal fin base 1.4 – 1.5

Length of anal fin base 1.6

Predorsal length 4.5 – 4.7

Preanal length 2.7–2.8

Head length 5.4– 6.0

In head length

Pectoral fin length 2.8 –3.4

Pelvic fin length 3.9 – 4.3

Snout length 5.1 – 6.7

Inter -orbital space 8.6 – 9.8

Eye diameter 17.1 – 20.2

Maxilla (upper jaw) length 3.6 –3.9

Mandible (lower jaw) length 3.3 –3.4

Dorsal spine VI

Dorsal soft rays 49 – 51

Pectoral spines 0

Pectoral rays 17

Pelvic spine I

Pelvic rays 5

Anal spine 0

Anal rays 43 – 46

Figures

Figure 1. (A) Paratrypauchen microcephalus (Bleeker, 1860), (B) Paratrypauchen microcephalus showing scaleless abdomen.