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

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.