Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2014) 2(3): 111-114 E-ISSN: 2322-5270; P-ISSN: 2383-0956 Journal homepage: www.ij-aquaticbiology.com © 2014 Iranian Society of Ichthyology Original Article First record of redneck goby Schismatogobius deraniyagalai (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from Seethanathi River, Karnataka, Southern India Muthukumarasamy Arunachalam1, Murugan Muralidharan*1, Karunakaran Remadevi2 1Sri Paramakalyani Centre for Environmental Sciences, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Alwarkurichi 627 412, Tamil Nadu, India. 2Southern Regional Station, Zoological Survey of India, 130, Santhome High Road, Chennai 600 028, Tamil Nadu, India. Article history: Received 2 March 2013 Accepted 14 April 2013 Available online 2 5 June 2014 Keywords: Gobiidae, New record, Seethanathi, Redneck goby, India Abstract: Schismatogobius deraniyagalai is recorded from the Seethanathi River of Karnataka state in the southern part of India. Previous records of these species were from the streams in Kerala of India and from freshwater habitats of Sri Lanka. Herein we report the occurrence of this species in Seethanathi River showing its distribution extended further north along the west coast of Peninsular India. Introduction Schismatogobius is a genus of small freshwater gobies with a naked and elongated body with a characteristic marmorated color pattern, living among pebbles in the freshwaters above tidal influence (Chen et al., 2001). Distribution of the genus is chiefly confined to Indo-Pacific Islands from Sri Lanka to Fiji. The 10 nominal species known till date include Schismatogobius marmoratus (Peters, 1868), S. bruynisi (de Beaufort, 1912), S. insignus (Herre, 1927), S. pallidus (Herre, 1934), S. roxasi (Herre, 1936), S. deraniyagalai (Kottelat and Pethiyagoda, 1989), S. ampluvinculus (Chen, Fang and Shao, 1995), S. fuligimentus (Chen, Seret, Pollabauer and Shao, 2001), S. vanuatuensis (Keith, Marquet and Watson, 2004) and S. vitiensis (Jenkins and Boseto, 2005). The single species of Schismatogobius recorded from the Indian subcontinent is S. deraniyagalai described from Sri Lanka (Kottelat and Pethiyagoda, 1989; Pethiyagoda, 1991). The discovery of this species from Sri Lankan water bodies is significant in terms of biogeography and distribution as it was for the first time the genus has * Corresponding author: Murugan Muralidharan E-mail address: muralistream@gmail.com been documented from an Indian ocean island as all other known species have been collected only form islands of the Pacific Ocean, Southern Japan, Indonesia, Philippines and Australia. As for the Indian subcontinent Schismatogobius deraniyagalai was first reported from the upper reaches of Chaliyar river system inside the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve of Kerala (Easa and Basha, 1995; Easa and Shaji, 1997). This region comprises part of the Western Ghats known for its rich species diversity and high levels of endemism, also regarded as one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al., 2000; Sajan et al., 2014). That was the only site record for this species after which there are no reports showing its occurrence in any of the freshwater bodies in Southern India to date. This species has been now found in the Seethanathi River of Karnataka showing the extension of distribution of the species further north along the west coast of India. Materials and methods The specimens were collected using cast nets and preserved in 10 % formalin. Measurements were 112 Arunachalam et al./ first record of redneck goby made with dial calipers with an accuracy of 0.01 mm. Methods for taking counts and measurements follow Hubbs and Lagler (1947). The specimens are deposited at the Zoological Survey of India/Southern Regional Station (ZSI/SRS), Chennai, India. Abbreviations of fins: D1 and D2, 1st and 2nd Dorsal fins; A, Anal fin; P, Pelvic fin; V, ventral fin; C, Caudal fin. Results Eight specimens (2 males and 6 females) of S. deraniyagalai range 26.0-38.5 mm of Standard Length (Table 1, Fig. 1) were collected from the upstream of Seethanathi River at Thuthinjet (13º 24’ N, 71º 01’ E), Karnataka State, India during 2002– 2004. The specimens were deposited in the ichthyological section of the Zoological Survey of India, Southern Regional Station, Chennai, India and the accession register number is F.7149 SRS/ZSI. Schismatogobius deraniyagalai is distinguished from all its congeners by its very slender body (6.5–7.9 times SL) 7.9–8.3 times as per original description by Kottelat and Pethiyagoda (1989). However the specimens collected from Indian waters differ in being stouter than the Sri Lankan forms. Preopercular canal and associated pores absent in the cephalic sensory pore system. Fin ray counts D1: VI; D2: I,9; A:I,9; P:14-15;V:I,9-10, C:12-13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mean ♀ ♀ ♀ ♂ ♂ ♀ ♀ ♀ Total length 44 44.5 40 40 36 35 32 31 Standard length 37 38.5 33 33 30 29 27 26 (% SL) Body depth 18.2 15.4 16.4 17.0 15. 7 15.9 15.9 15.0 16.2 Body width 16.2 14.0 14.2 14.2 13.3 13.8 13.3 11.9 13. 9 Head length 25.1 26.8 25.8 29.7 28.0 26.6 27.0 25.0 26.7 Length of snout 5.1 5.2 4.9 5.8 5. 7 4.8 4.8 4.6 5.1 Length of maxilla 10.0 9.6 8.5 18.8 15. 7 9.0 8.2 6.9 10.8 Eye diameter 5.4 5.9 4.9 6.4 6.0 5.2 5. 6 5.4 5.6 Interorbital width 3.7 2.6 3.0 4.2 3.3 3.5 3.3 3.5 3.4 Predorsal distance 34.5 34.8 34.9 36.4 33.3 32.4 33.3 35.0 34.3 Pre ventral 30.0 30.1 30.9 32.7 32.0 30.0 30.0 28.9 30.6 Pre anal 60.5 61.0 61.2 58.8 59.0 59.3 56. 7 57.7 59.3 Length of pectoral 24.3 20. 8 25.8 21.8 25.3 24.8 21.9 23.1 23.5 Height of dorsal I 14.0 11.7 9.7 12.1 11.3 12.1 8. 9 10.4 11.3 Height of dorsal II 9.7 10.4 11.2 11.2 10.0 12.7 10.0 11.5 10.9 Height of anal 5.4 10.4 10.3 11.2 10.0 10.3 9.6 9.6 9.6 Length of pelvic 22.1 22.9 22.4 22.1 21.7 23.1 23.7 21.2 22.4 Width of head 16.2 15.3 15.2 15.8 14.3 13.8 14.1 13.5 14.7 Length of caudal peduncle 15.9 15.3 17.9 18.8 17. 7 17.6 19.3 17.3 17.5 Height of caudal peduncle 7.8 7.5 7.88 8.2 8.0 8.6 7.4 7.7 7.9 Length of caudal fin 19.7 - 20.0 20.6 20.7 21.7 20.4 20.4 20.5 Distance between pelvic tip and anal 10.0 10.4 9.7 6.4 7.7 7.6 6.3 3.9 7.7 Distance between pectoral origin pelvic 5.9 5.5 6.36 5.8 6.3 6.2 5.9 6.2 6.0 Pelvic to anal base 33.2 33.0 33.0 29.1 29.7 32.4 29.3 28.9 31.1 Length of body opercular border to anus 39.2 35.8 37.9 31.0 30.0 35.9 33.7 31.9 34.4 (% HL) Length of snout 20.4 19.4 18.8 19.4 20.2 18.2 17.8 18.5 19.1 Length of maxilla 39.8 35.9 32.9 63.3 56 33.8 30.1 27.7 40.0 Eye diameter 21.5 22.3 18.8 21.4 21.4 19.5 20.5 21.5 20. 9 Interorbital width 15.1 9.71 11.8 14.3 11.9 13 12.3 13.8 12.7 Width of head 64.5 57.3 58.8 53.1 51.2 51.9 52.1 53.8 55.3 Table 1. Morphometry of Schismatogobius deraniyagalai from Seethanathi river of South India (F.7149 SRS/ZSI) 113 Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2014) 2(3): 111-114 Discussion Variations are observed between the type specimens as noted from the original description and the samples collected during this study. Body shape of specimens in the present collection are slender but stouter than the Sri Lankan forms, body depth in percentage SL in the former is 16.2 (15.0-18.2) vs. 12.4 (12.0-12.7) in the latter; width of body 13.9 (11.9-16.2) vs. 10.4 (10.0-10.8). Slight variations in snout length are also observed in that the percentage snout length in SL is 5.1 (4.6-5.8) vs. 6.3 (5.4-7.3). Further difference observed was in predorsal distance 34.3 (32.4-36.4) vs. 38.7 (38.3-39.3) and depth of caudal peduncle 7.9 (7.4-8.6) vs. 7.2 (7.0-7.3). In addition the teeth in jaws are reported to be in three rows whereas in the specimens from India the rows are more in number and irregularly arranged. All other morphometric and meristic characters overlap between the species. However the colour pattern is similar in both original types and the present samples. The differences observed are only in the girth of the species and also there is much overlap in many of the characters these specimens hence are reported as S. deraniyagalai. This species was not recorded during the survey undertaken in the tributaries of Chaliyar River of the New Amarambalam Reserve Forest (NARF), which forms the core area of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve from where the fish was recorded earlier (Baby et al., 2010). Anthropogenic interventions pose pressure and threat to the survival of this species and hence their distribution is restricted only to isolated streams/rivers in dense forests. 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