Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2017 | 9(10): 10853–10855

 

 

 

 

A first report of Redigobius oyensi (de Beaufort, 1913) (Teleostei: Gobionellinae) from Car Nicobar Island, India

J. Praveenraj 1, R. Kiruba-Sankar 2, Lohith Kumar 3, J. Raymond Jani Angel 4 & S. Dam Roy 5

 

1,2,3,4,5 Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-CIARI), Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands 744101, India

1 jpr948@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 rkirubasankar@gmail.com, 3 lohith318@gmail.com, 4 raymondicar007@gmail.com, 5 sibnarayan@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3279.9.10.10853-10855 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D9FF4807-855B-4B1D-BF83-DEB5C285A233

 

Editor: Neelesh Dahanukar, IISER, Pune, India. Date of publication: 26 October 2017 (online & print)

 

Manuscript details: Ms # 3702 | Received 28 July 2017 | Final received 08 October 2017 | Finally accepted 12 October 2017

 

Citation: Praveenraj, J., R.K. Sankar, L. Kumar, J.R.J. Angel & S.D. Roy (2017). A first report of Redigobius oyensi (de Beaufort, 1913) (Teleostei: Gobionellinae) from Car Nicobar Island, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(10): 10853–10855; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3702.9.10.10853-10855

 

Copyright: © Praveenraj et al. 2017. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

 

Funding: Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: We acknowledge the grants provided by the project on “Consortia Research Platform on - Agro-biodiversity” for this study. We are thankful to Dr. Helen K. Larson, Curator Emeritus, Fishes Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Australia for identifying the specimen and providing us with literature support.

 

 

 

The Andaman & Nicobar group of Islands (ANI) belonging to the union territory of India is situated in the Bay of Bengal between 6.75027778–13.68333333 N & 92.20000000–93.95000000 E, consisting of 572 islands. There are 550 islands in the Andaman group and 22 in the Nicobar group (www.andamans.gov.in). Car Nicobar is the northernmost part of the Nicobar Islands between Little Andaman & Nancowry. There is no inventory or information existing on the freshwater fishes of Car Nicobar Island. It is known that most of the earliest and recent works on freshwater fish documentation were conducted only in the Andaman group of islands (Day 1870; Annandale & Hora 1925; Mukerji 1935; Herre 1939, 1940, 1941; Koumans 1940; Sen 1975; Starmühlner 1978; Talwar 1990, Rao et al. 2000; Palavai & Davidar 2009; Devi 2010; Rajan & Sreeraj 2013, 2014a,b,c; Rajan et al. 2013; Kumar et al. 2016). The gobiid fish genus Redigobius are widely distributed in the Indo-west Pacific, inhabiting freshwaters and estuaries which are close to the sea (Larson 2010). Presently, 12 species of Redigobius are known worldwide, of which R. bikolanus (Herre 1927) is the most widespread species. From ANI, three species of Redigobius are reported, viz. Redigobius tambujon (Bleeker, 1854), R. balteatus (Herre 1935), and R. bikolanus. During an ichthyological survey of Car Nicobar Island, the occurrence of Redigobius oyensi, from a freshwater stream was observed, which is reported herein as the new record to the Nicobar Islands, India, and subsequently, the first report of a freshwater fish from Car Nicobar Island.

Underwater faunal survey was conducted in a stream located at a distance of 8km from a tribal village called Kinmai, Car Nicobar Islands (Fig. 1). A single female Redigobius sp. was encountered and a photograph of the same was taken with a Nikon 130 water resistant camera. The specimen was collected using a hand net, but the collected specimen could not be brought to the capital, Port Blair due to logistic difficulty. General observation on the stream habitat, flora, and the substrate was noted. Dr. Helen K. Larson from Queensland museum, Australia, who is the first reviser of the genus Redigobius, identified the goby based on the photographs.

The goby fish was identified to be R. oyensi (Image 1 A–D), based on the following morphological characters: slender pale brownish body, a series of five black blotches along the lateral side of the body. Pale blue to greenish iridescent spots scattered over the body and on the head. Short green speckling over eyes and snout. First dorsal fin with a dark blotch on the posterior edge; rest of the fin orange to pale yellow color; second dorsal fin translucent, with rows of golden spots. Co-occurring fishes were R. bikolanus, Sicyopterus microcephalus (Bleeker, 1855), and a crustacean, Macrobrachium lar (Fabricius, 1798), which is also the first documentation from Car Nicobar Islands, but seems to be a common inhabitant of the hill-streams of Nicobar Islands. The stream was clear and had a small waterfall in the up-streams; the substrate and the catchment area comprised mainly of dead coral boulders (Image 2 A,B). The bottom of the stream was characterized by coral boulders and black volcanic rocks, devoid of any vegetation except patches of filamentous algae. The stream ran through a series of small pools of 1-meter depth, and flowed into a creek, eventually draining into the sea.

The type locality of R. oyensi (=Gobius oyensi, de Beaufort, 1913) is Ceram, Indonesia, which is approximately 4,287km from Car Nicobar Island. Presently, R. oyensi is known from the Philippines, Indonesia, Micronesia, and known to be occasionally found at the base of waterfalls. It is suggested, that their distribution is patchy and there is a lack of information on global population and abundance. As a result, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species categorize R. oyensi as Data Deficient (Larson 2012). Detailed habitat information from Mebulibuli River, Fergusson Island, D’Entrecasteaux Island Group, New Guinea was described by Gerry Allen in Larson (2010), where it is mentioned that—“About 1.5 km upstream of the village the river flowed through a series of rapids alternating with rocky pools and shallow broad sections with gravel and cobble substrate, flowing more slowly over gravel and mud downstream of the village, eventually flowing through disturbed forests, village garden and then to mangroves and the sea”. Similar habitat resembling Fergusson Island report is observed in the present study area also, where the stream flowed through a series of rapids alternating with pools, but made up of coral boulders with cobble and black volcanic rock as the substrate, flowing through the tribal village then to a creek and eventually into the sea. The present information adds insight on its specific habitat requirements. The present report contributes to the knowledge on new distribution and habitat for R. oyensi. This report paves way for, further research on its population, habitat requirements, life history, and potential threats.

 

References

Annandale, N. & S.L. Hora (1925). The freshwater fish from the Andaman Islands. Records of the Indian Museum 27(2): 33–41.

Day, F. (1870). On the fishes of the Andaman Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1870(3): 677–705.

Devi, K.R. (2010). Freshwater fishes of Andaman Islands, pp. 329–339. In: Ramakrishna, C. Raghunathan & C. Sivaperuman (eds.). Recent Trends in Biodiversity of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 542pp.

Herre, A.W.C.T. (1939). On a collection of littoral and freshwater fishes from Andaman Islands. Records of the Indian Museum 41: 327–372.

Herre, A.W.C.T. (1940). On a collection of littoral and freshwater fishes from the Andaman Islands. Supplement. Records of the Indian Museum 41: 1–8.

Herre, A.W.C.T. (1941). A list of the fishes known from the Andaman Islands. Memoirs of the Indian Museum 13(3): 331–403.

Koumans, F.P. (1940). On the collection of Gobioid fishes from Andamans. Records of the Indian Museum 42: 15–18.

Kumar, M.A., S. Venu & G. Padmavati (2016). Habitat ecology and ichthyofaunal diversity of two creeks and their associated streams from Port Blair, South Andaman Islands. International Journal of Ecology 1649368: 8.

Larson, H.K. (2010). A review of the gobiid fish genus Redigobius (Teleostei: Gobionellinae), with descriptions of two species. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 21(2): 123–191.

Larson, H. (2012). Redigobius oyensi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T196355A2448952. Downloaded on 27 July 2017. http://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T196355A2448952.en

Mukerji, D.D. (1935). Notes on some rare and interesting fishes from the Andaman Islands, with description of two new freshwater gobies. Records of the Indian Museum 37(3): 259–277.

Palavai, V. & D. Priya (2009). A survey of freshwater fishes of Andaman Islands. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 106(1): 11–14.

Rajan, P.T., C.R. Sreeraj & T. Immanuel (2013). Fishes of Andaman and Nicobar islands: A checklist. Journal of the Andaman Science Association 18(1): 47–87.

Rajan, P.T. & C.R. Sreeraj (2013). Diversity, distribution and conservation of freshwater fishes in Mount Harriet national park, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 113(4): 35–55.

Rajan, P.T & C.R. Sreeraj (2014a). New record of two species of Belobranchus (teleostei: Gobioidei: Eleotridae) from Andaman Islands. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 114(1): 85–188.

Rajan, P.T. & C.R. Sreeraj (2014b). Seven new records of fishes from Andaman Islands. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 114(1): 111–117.

Rajan, P.T. & C.R. Sreeraj (2014c). Invasive freshwater fishes and its threats to the biological diversity in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Journal of the Andaman Science Association 19(1): 88–98.

Rao, D.V., K. Devi & P.T. Rajan (2000). An account of ichthyofauna of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Bay of Bengal. Records of Zoological Survey of India 178: 434.

Sen, T.K. (1975). Further lights on freshwater fish fauna of Andaman Islands. Sea Food Export Journal 7(2): 31–33.

Starmühlner, F. (1978). Results of the Austrian-Indian hydrobiological mission 1976 to the Andaman-Islands: Part I: preliminary report: introduction, methods, general situation of the Islands, description of the stations and general comments on the distribution of the fauna in running waters of the Islands. Aquatic Biology 2: 139.

Talwar, P.K. (1990). Fishes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands: A synoptic analysis. Journal of Andaman Science Association 6(2): 71–102.