http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/66305 2026-10-10T10:47:01Z http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/66310 Title: Seasonal variation in the food and feeding habits of Setipinna taty (Valenciennes, 1848) inhabiting the Hooghly-Matlah estuary of West Bengal, India Authors: Mandal, A; Ziauddin, G; S Nagesh, T; K Das, S; Jana, S; Bhakta, D Abstract: The food and feeding habits of Setipinna taty collected from the Hooghly-Matlah estuary, West Bengal, India, for a period of 12 months (February 2022 to January 2023) were studied. Zooplankton, crustaceans, insects, annelids, and molluscs have dominated the food items in the gut. Throughout the year, there were a very high percentage of empty stomachs. The Empty Stomach Ratio (ESR) value was highest in males during the pre-monsoon, and for females, it was higher in the post-monsoon. The mean Relative Length of Gut (RLG) value varied from 0.3147 to 0.389 in males and 0.323 to 0.425 in females. RLG values were found to be highest during the monsoon and lowest during the post-monsoon for both sexes. The species is a carnivorous fish and feeds mainly on zooplankton and crustaceans. The feeding intensity is higher in the adult stage, with crustaceans and insects dominating the gut contents, while zooplankton and annelids are preferred by the juveniles. Among the zooplankton, the main food items are copepods, rotifers, lichens, and crustaceans, mainly megalopa larvae, alima larvae, Labidocera sp., and unidentified shrimps. Among non-penaeid prawns, Acetes spp. was the most dominant food item. Bray-Curtis similarity shows 66 – 70 % similarity between the pre-monsoon season and both the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. According to the Bray-Curtis similarity index, the seasonal diet variations of anchovy were alike each other by 66 – 70 %. Page(s): 433-442 2024-06-01T00:00:00Z http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/66309 Title: Taxonomic review of the genus Dactyloptena Jordan & Richardson, 1908 (Syngnathiformes: Dactylopteridae) from the east coast of India with four new records from West Bengal state Authors: Ray, D; S Mishra, S; Roy, S; Khatua, T; R Mohanty, S; Acharya, S; Mohapatra, Anil Abstract: Four rare marine fish species of flying gurnards of the family Dactylopteridae are hereby reported for the first time from the West Bengal coast, India. The species viz. Dactyloptena macracantha (Bleeker, 1855), D. orientalis (Cuvier, 1829), D. peterseni (Nystrom, 1887) and D. papilio Ogilby, 1910 were collected from Petuaghat fishing harbour, Purba Medinipur district. This paper reports these four species as new distributional records from the coastal waters of West Bengal, along with their diagnostic characteristics and morphometric data. The study also confirms the report of D. papilio, from Indian waters. Comments on the records of Dactyloptena species from Indian waters are also presented. Page(s): 443-449 2024-06-01T00:00:00Z http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/66308 Title: On the occurrence of Mulloidichthys ayliffe Uiblein, 2011 (Indian mimic goatfish) (Teleostei: Mullidae) in the Lakshadweep Archipelago, Eastern Arabian Sea (Western Indian Ocean) Authors: M Vishnupriya, K; J Nair, R; T Sangeetha, A Abstract: The goatfish species Mulloidichthys ayliffe Uiblein, 2011 (Mullidae) is reported for the first time from the Lakshadweep Archipelago, Eastern Arabian Sea, based on morphological and genetic studies of four specimens collected off Agatti Island. The fish is characterised by a distinct pattern of 4-5 blue stripes alternating with yellow, with the dorsal-most blue stripe crossing the lateral line beyond the base of the first dorsal fin, and the presence of 37 lateral line scales. The mitochondrial COI gene sequence of one M. ayliffe specimen was compared with two other sequences of M. ayliffe from South African waters, and found to be matching. Page(s): 450-458 2025-08-01T00:00:00Z http://nopr.niscpr.res.in/handle/123456789/66307 Title: First report of Plectropomus pessuliferus from Indian Peninsula with species delimitation analysis based on COI gene Authors: R Mohanty, S; Acharya, S; K Behera, R; Sahoo, P; Patnaik, L; K Seth, J; S Mishra, S; Mohapatra, Anil Abstract: The molecular phylogeny and species delimitation analysis based on Cytochrome C Oxidase I (COI) gene of Plectropomus pessuliferus, shows proximity with nine gene sequences of the same species retrieved from the NCBI and BOLD database. However, some gene sequences of P. pessuliferus retrieved show a close affinity with some sequences of two closely related species, viz. P. leopardus and P. maculatus, and their hybrids. The overlapping species delimitation results for P. pessuliferus and P. leopardus, along with fewer nucleotide differences and their appearance in the same clade in the Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree, support the earlier hypothesis of probable natural hybridisation and ongoing introgression between species of the genus Plectropomus in the marine environment. Additionally, many similarities in the morphological assessment further corroborate this claim. The finding of coral reef trout P. pessuliferus constitutes its first record from the potential fishing zones of the Indian peninsula. Page(s): 459-468 2025-08-01T00:00:00Z