Grammoplites scaber (Linnaeus, 1758)

Zainal Abidin, Danial Hariz, Lavoué, Sébastien, Mohd Abu Hassan Alshari, Norli Fauzani, Mohd. Nor, Siti Azizah, A. Rahim, Masazurah & Mohammed Akib, Noor Adelyna, 2021, Ichthyofauna of Sungai Merbok Mangrove Forest Reserve, northwest Peninsular Malaysia, and its adjacent marine waters, Check List 17 (2), pp. 601-631 : 625

Grammoplites scaber (Linnaeus, 1758)

Figure 5H

Material examined. MALAYSIA • 1, 125 mm TL; Kedah State, Kuala Kedah, Kuala Muda Whispering Market ; 05.578°N, 100.341°E; 6 Dec. 2018; Danial H. Zainal Abidin, Norli F.M.A.H. Alshari leg.; USMFC (56) 00006. Identification. Maximum TL about 300 mm ( Froese and Pauly, 2020). Body elongate, dorso-ventrally compressed, head strongly flattened with eye partially di- rected upward; mouth large prognathous; teeth on vomer in two distinct patches; preopercular spines three, upper spine longest; spinous and soft dorsal fins well separated; backward directed spine on each lateral line scale; body above brownish, ventrally whitish, caudal fin brownish without clear pattern .

Grammoplites scaber can be separated from Platycephalus indicus (Linnaeus, 1758) by the presence of spines on lateral line scales and the absence of pattern on the caudal fin. Grammoplites scaber is a common coastal species in this region which often enters brackish environments.