Planiliza klunzingeri (Day, 1888)

Arabian Sea keeled mullet

(Fig. 8A–C, 9B, Table 3)

Mugil klunzingeri Day 1888: 264 (Mumbai, India), based on Mugil carinatus of Day 1876: 349 (non Cuvier & Valenciennes) Plate LXXIV, Fig. 2

Liza klunzingeri Senou et al. 1987: 309 (Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea Coast of India, Pakistan and Oman); Carpenter et al. 1997: 203 (Southern Persian Gulf); Coad 2010: 234 (Iraq); Shen & Durand 2016: 77

Chelon klunzingeri Randall 1995: 235 (Oman Coast); Manilo & Bogorodsky 2003: S112 (Arabian Sea); Psomadakis et al. 2015: 293 (Pakistan Coast)

Planiliza klunzingeri Ali et al. 2018: 342 (Iraq); Hasan et al. 2021: 8 (Pakistan)

Chelon carinata (non Valenciennes) Manilo & Bogorodsky 2003: S112 (Arabian Sea); Eagderi et al. 2019: 84 (as Chelon carinatus; Persian Gulf, Iran)

Planiliza carinata (non Valenciennes) Ali et al. 2018: 342 (Iraq)

Materials examined (n=30): MNHN 2019-0086 (X) [GenBank CO 1: MT 999034], 148 mm SL, Persian Gulf at Basra, Iraq, collected by A.Al-Saboonchi ; CEMB PAK Mu 816 [GenBank: MT 943737], 824 [GenBank: MT 943727], 828 [GenBank: MT 943736], 830 [GenBank: MT 943735], 884 [GenBank: MT 943743], 5 specimen, 124–138 mm SL, Pakistan Coast of Arabian Sea at Fish Harbour, Karachi, collected by Ariba Hasan ; CEMB Pak Mu 811–12 [GenBank: MT943738 –39], 827 [GenBank: MT 943726], 870 [GenBank: MT 943731], 872 [GenBank: MT 943730], 881–82 [GenBank: MT943728 –29], 883 [GenBank: MT 943744], 8 specimen, 118–144 mm SL, Pakistan Coast of Arabian Sea at Keti Bunder, Sindh, collected by Ariba Hasan ; CEMB Pak Mu 800, 134 mm SL, Pakistan Coast of Arabian Sea at Somniani, Baluchistan, collected by Ariba Hasan ; CEMB Pak Mu 821 [GenBank: MT 943733], 832 [GenBank: MT 943725], 838, 3 specimen, 129–159 mm SL, Pakistan Coast of Arabian Sea at Gwadar, Baluchistan, collected by Ariba Hasan ; CUMS Mug 1–12 [GenBank: MT999032 –33, MT 999035], 12 specimen, 135–155 mm SL, Oman (imported in Chattogram, Bangladesh), collected by M. Eusuf Hasan.

Diagnosis: Hind tip of maxilla exposed when mouth closed; head relatively large, slightly convex, head length 27–31% of SL; adipose eyelid developed anteriorly and posteriorly; mid-dorsal line sharply keeled; stomach gizzard-like, with five unbranched pyloric caeca; 11–13 (mode 12) rows of transverse scales; usually 34–38 scales in lateral series; pectoral-fin generally with 16 rays; pectoral-fin length 20–26% of SL, just reaching to level of first dorsal-fin. Three supraneurals: first between second and third vertebrae, second between fourth and fifth vertebrae, and third between sixth and seventh vertebrae (Fig. 9B). First pterygiophore of spinous dorsal fin between seventh and eighth vertebrae (Fig. 9B).

Description (Fig. 8, A–C): Counts and proportional measurements are shown in Table 3. Body moderately short and compressed. Head large, with slightly convex inter-orbital space. Mid-dorsal line, anterior to first dorsal fin with well-developed keel (Fig. 8C). Keel weaker between dorsal fins. Adipose eye-fold well developed. Maxilla posteriorly curved down and its tip exposed when closed mouth. Mouth terminal, a prominent symphysial knob present at upper end of lower jaw. Upper lip not thick; lower lip thinner than upper lip, forming horizontally forward edge. Body scales weakly ctenoid. Interorbital space scaled. First dorsal-fin origin closer to caudal fin base than snout tip. Origin of second dorsal fin on vertical through anterior third of anal fin. Pectoral fin just reaching to level of first dorsal fin. Caudal fin emarginate. Total number of vertebrae 24 (11+13).

Colour when fresh (Fig. 8A, B): Head and dorsal two third of body grey or bluish grey, ventral half silvery. Upper section of iris orange-grey. First and second dorsal fins greyish. Caudal fin with a dark margin; inner side pale or yellowish-grey. Anal fin whitish. Pelvic fin white. Pectoral fin darkish hyaline, upper end of pectoral fin base darkish.

Distribution: Known from the coasts of eastern and northern Arabian Sea—west coast of India (type locality) and Pakistan (Psomadakis et al. 2015, Hasan et al. 2021), and from the Persian Gulf (Carpenter et al. 1997, Coad 2010, Ali et al. 2018, Eagderi et al. 2019) and Gulf of Oman (Randall 1995).

Comparisons: Planiliza klunzingeri differs with P. carinata in the position of third supraneural and first pterygiophore of first dorsal fin (see account of P. carinata above, and Fig. 9A, B for details). Senou et al. (1987) observed that P. klunzingeri possesses more total gill rakers than P. carinata (79–109 vs. 69–93).

Remarks: We observed some variation from Senou et al. (1987) regarding a few proportional measurements for Planiliza carinata and P. klunzingeri . First dorsal-fin base length, inter-pelvic flank distance, and fourth dorsalspine length were larger in our study samples (Table 3). This might be due to differences in measurements and/or shrinkage of long preserved specimens.

Reports of Planiliza carinata from Arabian Sea (Manilo & Bogorodsky 2003: S112, as Chelon carinata), the Persian Gulf (Eagderi et al. 2019, as C. carinatus), as well as of P. carinata from Iraq (Ali et al. 2018) most likely refer to P. klunzingeri .