Abudefduf vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825)

Sen, Arya, Sreeraj, Chemmencheri Ramakrishnan, Raghunathan, Chelladurai & Chandra, Kailash, 2021, First report of the fish family Pomacentridae (Damsel fishes) from Sunderban biosphere reserve, India, International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies 9 (1), pp. 142-145 : 143-144

Abudefduf vaigiensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825)

Indo-Pacific sergeant

Conservation Status - Least Concern ( IUCN 3.1) ( IUCN Red List) [ 22].

Diagnostic Characters: Dorsal spines 13; dorsal soft rays 13; anal spines 2; anal soft rays 11; Ventral spines 1; Ventral soft rays 5; Pectoral soft rays 18; caudal soft rays 18. Body rounded in lateral profile and laterally compressed, snout is pointed, one nostril on each side of head. Body color of the dorsal profile is bluish green and silvery to white ventrally. Five broad longitudinal bluish black bands on the body. First band just behind the head and last one at region of caudal peduncle. Last band is narrow comparing to the others. Third to fifth band extends towards dorsal fin. A yellowish coloration is present in between 1 st to 4 th bar. Caudal fin is forked and without bars, with pointed edge and faint black stripe on margin. Dorsal profile of head straight, covered with scales. Caudal peduncle without groove. Presence of short snout with oblique mouth and lower jaw projectile. Interorbital space little concave. Full body and opercula covered with ctenoid scales. Lateral line is conspicuous. ( Fig 2 ) Detailed measurement of the Bay of Bengal specimen in comparison to same Species collected from Arabian Sea is given in Table 1.

Distribution

India: Konkan region (Karnataka, Goa, Maharastra), Coromandel region (Tamil Nadu), West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands .

Elsewhere: From Red Sea and eastern Africa to the Line and Tuamoto islands, north to southern Japan, and south to Australia and New Zealand.

Remarks: Found in marine reef areas, mainly coral or stony region, with strong substratum and crevices, within 1 to 15- meter water depth of tropical waters in Indo-Pacific region. Records of this species in the Indian Ocean were mostly from the coral reef regions. This is the first record of this family and the species from Sunderbans. A. vaigiensis is often confused with and misidentified as a closely related Atlantic species; A. saxatilis (Linnaeus, 1758) . Structural similarity between these two species leads to a misinterpretation in the identification process [ 12]. From India also A. saxatilis is reported from many parts such as Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Islands and Tamilnadu (Gulf of Mannar) by various authors ( Table 2) [ 13, 14, 15]. A. saxatilis is strictly an Atlantic species and commonly spotted at Caribbean reefs and Western Africa to Angola [ 16]. Whereas A. vaigiensis is Indo-Pacific in origin [ 9]. As there are no evidence of A. saxatilis for being an invasive species in India, it is reiterated that the reports of A. saxatilis from India are erroneous identifications and are to be considered as A. vaigiensis .

Figures

Fig 2: Photographs of A. vaigiensis collected from Sundarban and Lakshadweep Islands. A & B: Fresh and preserved specimen collected from Sundarban. C &D: Fresh and preserved specimen collected from Lakshadweep Islands.