ArticlePDF Available

First record of whitebarred goby Amblygobius phalaena (Valenciennes, 1837) from Indian waters

October 2018
Indian Journal of Fisheries 65(3):116-121

DOI:10.21077/ijf.2018.65.3.75145-16

Authors:

Daniel Dani

Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University

Annam Pavan Kumar

Central Institute of Fisheries Education

Ayyathurai Kathirvelpandian

National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources

Praveenraj Jayasimhan

Central Agricultural Research Institute

Show all 6 authorsHide

Gobiid fishes are one of the dominant and cryptic taxa in tropical coral reefs. Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India consist of fringing and barrier reefs which harbour huge fish diversity. Due to morphological ambiguity and cryptic life styles, identification and delimitation of gobiids is difficult. In the present study, we report the occurrence of Amblygobius phalaena (Valenciennes, 1837) for the first time in the Indian waters using morphology and DNA barcoding approach. A. phalaena from Indian waters showed divergence values within the range of 0.00 to 0.047 with the reported conspecific individuals.

Content uploaded by Annam Pavan Kumar

Content may be subject to copyright.

116

Indian J. Fish., 65(3): 116-121, 2018

DOI: 10.21077/ijf.2018.65.3.75145-16

Note

First record of whitebarred goby Amblygobius phalaena (Valenciennes,

1837) from Indian waters

N. DANIEL1, A. PAVAN-KUMAR1, KIRUBA-SANKAR2, PRAVEENRAJA2, A. KATHIRVEL

PANDIAN33, S. DAM ROY2 AND A. CHAUDHARI1

1ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Yari road, Versova, Mumbai - 400 061, Maharashtra, India

2ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair - 744 101, Andaman and Nicobari Island, India

3Peninsular and Marine Fish Genetic Resources Centre of ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources,

Kochi - 682 018, Kerala, India

e-mail: pavanannam@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Gobiid shes are one of the dominant and cryptic taxa in tropical coral reefs. Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India consist

of fringing and barrier reefs which harbour huge sh diversity. Due to morphological ambiguity and cryptic life styles,

identication and delimitation of gobiids is dicult. In the present study, we report the occurrence of Amblygobius phalaena

(Valenciennes, 1837) for the rst time in the Indian waters using morphology and DNA barcoding approach. A. phalaena

from Indian waters showed divergence values within the range of 0.00 to 0.047 with the reported conspecic individuals.

Keywords: Amblygobius phalaena, Coral reefs, DNA barcoding, Gobiids, India

Whitebarred goby Amblygobius phalaena

(Valenciennes, 1837) (Order: Perciformes; Family:

Gobiidae) is a marine, reef associated sh which inhabits

sand burrows. It is a commercially important aquarium

sh and has signicant role in ecology (Myers, 1991).

This species is distributed across Indo-Pacic region

and is native of South Africa, Australia, Japan, Thailand,

Malaysia and Indonesia (Myers, 1999). Valid synonymised

names for this species are Gobius annulatus De Vis, 1884

and G. phalaena Valenciennes, 1837. Due to the cryptic

morphological characteristics, A. phalaena has been

erroneously synonymised as Amblygobius albimaculatus

(Ruppell, 1830) ( Bauchot et al., 1991). The coral reefs

of India are rich with diverse nsh and shellsh species.

However, due to the morphological ambiguity among

sh species, the ichthyofauna of coral reefs has not been

completely documented. In the present paper, we report

the occurrence of A. phalaena for the rst time in Indian

waters using morphology and DNA barcoding approach.

Two numbers of A. phalaena were caught from

coral reefs (11041’4.69”N; 92047’2.77’E), Ross Island,

South Andaman District, Andaman Islands, India on

2nd April 2017 using hand net from a depth of 2 m. The

specimens were morphologically identied as per Smith

et al. (1986). Later, n clips were taken aseptically and

preserved in absolute alcohol for molecular work. Total

genomic DNA was extracted from these samples using

standard phenol-chloroform method (Sambrook et al.,

2001). The mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I

partial gene (650 bp) was amplied as per Ward et al.

(2005). The PCR amplied products were visualised on

2% agarose gel and puried using Qiaquick gel extraction

kit (Qiagen, Germany) following manufacture’s

protocol. The puried PCR products were sequenced

bi-directionally at the sequencing facility of M/s SciGenom

Pvt. Ltd., Kochi, India. Sequences were analysed using

MEGA7 software for species delimitation (Kumar et al.,

2016). For estimating the genetic divergence value and

species delimitation, 39 reported COI gene sequences

of the genus Amblygobius were downloaded from NCBI

GenBank (Table 1).

The collected shes measured 10.0 and 10.50 cm

in total length. The diagnostic features include seven

dorsal spines with 15 branched rays; rst dorsal spine

longer than second; anal n with one spine and 14

branched rays; rounded caudal n; longitudinal scale

series 55; ocellus on the rst dorsal n and a black spot at

the upper caudal n base (Fig. 1).

Body greenish brown in colour, with ve dark brown

to blackish bars; a pale dark stripe through the eye and

another across cheek; head with white streaks; small white

spots in 3-4 horizontal rows on the body.

Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences were

trimmed and the quality of the sequence (600 bp) was

veried by Phred score of each nucleotide and lack of

117

stop codons conrms absence of NUMTs. The sequences

were submitted to NCBI with GenBank Accession nos.

MF537264-265. Out of 600 nucleotides, the number

of conserved and variable nucleotides was 523 and 77

respectively. Analysis using MEGA7 software revealed

the average intra-specic genetic distance value for

A. phalaena as 0.012±0.004 with a range of 0.000 to

0.051 (Table 2.). A. phalaena from Indian waters showed

divergence values within the range of 0.00 to 0.047 and

authenticated the species identication. The average

interspecic divergence value between A. phalaena and

A. albimaculatus is 0.102±0.009 which is 10x more than

the average within species distance values of A. phalaena

(Table 3). Further, Neighbor Joining tree constructed with

Table 1. List of species along with COI gene sequence accession numbers

Species Location details GenBank Accession No.

Amblygobius albimaculatus Mozambique: Pomene JF492825

Mozambique: Pomene GU805111

Saudi Arabia KY676051

Saudi Arabia KY675893

Saudi Arabia KY675830

Saudi Arabia KY675639

Saudi Arabia KY675434

Saudi Arabia KX139519

Amblygobius decussates Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194955

Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194244

Philippines: Manila FJ582719-23

Amblygobius phalaena Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194896

Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194792

Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194751

Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194685

Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194499

Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194353

Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194327

Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194153

Australia: Queensland, Lizard Island KP194021

French Polynesia, Society Islands JQ431409

Philippines: Manila FJ582724-25

Ross Island, Andaman* MF537264-265*

Amblygobius sphnyx Madagascar: Antananarivo, Ouest, Nosy Be,

Ambanoro bay

JQ349688-95

Amblygobius hectori Madagascar: Antananarivo, Ouest, Nosy Be,

Ambanoro bay

JQ349683-87

*Present study

Fig.1. Amblygobius phalaena, 90 mm SL from Ross Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands

N. Daniel et al.

118

Table 2. Genetic divergence values (Kimura 2 Parameter) of COI gene within Amblygobius phalaena collected from dierent locations

Species Ap1 Ap2 Ap3 Ap4 Ap5 Ap6 Ap7 Ap8 Ap9 Ap10 Ap11 Ap12 Ap13 Ap14

A. phalaena (Ap1) 0.002 0.004 0.004 0.005 0.003 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.002 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap2) 0.004 0.004 0.003 0.004 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.003 0.003 0.004 0.002 0.000 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap3) 0.012 0.009 0.003 0.003 0.004 0.002 0.000 0.002 0.002 0.000 0.004 0.004 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap4) 0.011 0.007 0.005 0.003 0.004 0.002 0.003 0.002 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.003 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap5) 0.014 0.011 0.005 0.007 0.005 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.004 0.004 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap6) 0.005 0.002 0.011 0.009 0.012 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.003 0.002 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap7) 0.011 0.007 0.002 0.004 0.004 0.009 0.002 0.000 0.000 0.002 0.004 0.003 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap8) 0.012 0.009 0.000 0.005 0.005 0.011 0.002 0.002 0.002 0.000 0.004 0.004 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap9) 0.011 0.007 0.002 0.004 0.004 0.009 0.000 0.002 0.000 0.002 0.004 0.003 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap10) 0.011 0.007 0.002 0.004 0.004 0.009 0.000 0.002 0.000 0.002 0.004 0.003 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap11) 0.012 0.009 0.000 0.005 0.005 0.011 0.002 0.000 0.002 0.002 0.004 0.004 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap12) 0.007 0.004 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.005 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.012 0.002 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap13) 0.004 0.000 0.009 0.007 0.011 0.002 0.007 0.009 0.007 0.007 0.009 0.004 0.009

A. phalaena (Ap14) 0.047 0.044 0.049 0.051 0.047 0.046 0.047 0.049 0.047 0.047 0.049 0.044 0.044

Ap1-Ap2: Present study; Ap3-Ap11: Lizard Island, Australia; Ap12-13: Philippines, Manila; Ap14: French Polynesia, Society Islands, Morea.

Below diagonal - Divergence values; Above diagonal: Standard error values

Species Ap1 Ap2 Ap3 Aa1 Aa2 Aa3 Ad1 Ad2 Ad3 As1 As2 As3 Ah1 Ah2 Ah3

A. phalaena (Ap1) 0.002 0.005 0.015 0.015 0.015 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.022 0.022 0.023 0.021 0.021 0.021

A.phalaena (Ap2) 0.004 0.004 0.014 0.014 0.015 0.020 0.020 0.020 0.022 0.022 0.023 0.021 0.021 0.021

A. phalaena (Ap3) 0.012 0.009 0.014 0.014 0.014 0.020 0.020 0.020 0.023 0.023 0.023 0.021 0.021 0.021

A.albimaculatus (Aa1) 0.103 0.099 0.103 0.000 0.002 0.017 0.017 0.018 0.021 0.021 0.022 0.019 0.019 0.019

A. albimaculatus (Aa2) 0.103 0.099 0.103 0.000 0.002 0.017 0.017 0.018 0.021 0.021 0.022 0.019 0.019 0.019

A. albimaculatus (Aa3) 0.105 0.101 0.105 0.002 0.002 0.017 0.017 0.017 0.021 0.021 0.021 0.019 0.019 0.019

A. decussates (Ad1) 0.205 0.201 0.205 0.163 0.163 0.160 0.000 0.002 0.021 0.021 0.022 0.021 0.021 0.021

A. decussates (Ad2) 0.205 0.201 0.205 0.163 0.163 0.160 0.000 0.002 0.021 0.021 0.022 0.021 0.021 0.021

A. decussates (Ad3) 0.208 0.203 0.208 0.165 0.165 0.163 0.002 0.002 0.021 0.022 0.022 0.021 0.021 0.021

A. sphinx (As1) 0.232 0.227 0.237 0.205 0.205 0.203 0.210 0.210 0.212 0.002 0.004 0.023 0.023 0.023

A. sphinx (As2) 0.234 0.229 0.239 0.207 0.207 0.205 0.212 0.212 0.215 0.002 0.003 0.023 0.023 0.023

A. sphinx(As3) 0.244 0.239 0.249 0.217 0.217 0.214 0.222 0.222 0.224 0.009 0.007 0.024 0.024 0.024

A. hectori (Ah1) 0.213 0.208 0.203 0.177 0.177 0.175 0.217 0.217 0.220 0.235 0.237 0.247 0.002 0.000

A. hectori (Ah2) 0.210 0.206 0.201 0.180 0.180 0.177 0.220 0.220 0.222 0.232 0.234 0.244 0.002 0.002

A. hectori (Ah3) 0.213 0.208 0.203 0.177 0.177 0.175 0.217 0.217 0.220 0.235 0.237 0.247 0.000 0.002

Below diagonal - Divergence values; Above diagonal - Standard error values

Table 3. Genetic divergence values (Kimura 2 Parameter) of COI gene within the genus Amblygobius collected from dierent locations

First record of whitebarred goby from Indian waters

COI divergence values showed distinct clusters shared by

conspecic individuals with signicant bootstrap value

(Fig. 2). Within A. phalaena cluster, specimen from French

Polynesia and Australia formed dierent branches, while

specimen from India clustered with samples of Philippines.

Gobiidae is one of the most speciose families with

more than 1700 described sh species (Eschmeyer and

Fong, 2013). A total of 174 species of gobiid shes have

been reported from Indian waters (Chatterjee and Mishra,

2012). Globally, these shes form one of the dominant

taxa in tropical coral reef and coastal sh diversity.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands located in Bay of Bengal

consist of 352 islands and the shelf topography of these

islands is characterised by fringing and barrier reefs.

These ecosystems are habitat to a total of 1434 sh species

including gobies (Rajan et al., 2013). Due to their small

size and cryptic life styles, identication and delimitation

of gobiids using morphological characters is dicult.

Because of this reason, gobiids have been under-represented

in ichthyofaunal survey of dierent ecosystems (Close and

Gouws, 2007; Thacker, 2011). DNA barcoding approach

along with morphological characters has been successfully

used to delineate shes including gobiids (Ward et al.,

2005; Viswambaran et al.,

2013; Knebelsberger and Thiel,

2014)

119

Fig.2. Neighbour joining tree of COI gene sequences of Amblygobius species

synonymisation and reported Amblygobius phalaena as a

valid species (Allen and Swainston, 1988).

In the present study, the species status of A. phalaena

was conrmed using DNA barcodes and morphological

characters. Comparison of COI sequences generated

in the present study with 15 reported sequences from

Philippines, Australia and French Polynesia showed

high similarity (99%) and less genetic divergence value

against A. phalaena. Whereas higher genetic divergence

values i.e. 10 times more than the average within species

N. Daniel et al.

In the present study, two adult specimens of

A. phalaena were collected from Ross Islands, Andaman

and Nicobar Islands. Due to their cryptic life style, it

was dicult to collect adequate number of samples in

a single exploration. Initially, Valenciennes described

Gobius phalaena from Vanikoro Island, south-western

Pacic (Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1837). Later valid

synonymisation of this species as Amblygobius

albimaculatus resulted in taxonomic instability (Bauchot

et al., 1991). However, several studies have disproved this

120

Kannan, K., Sureshkumar, K., Ranjith, L., Joshi, K. K., Madan,

M. S. and John, S. 2013. First record of the two stripe goby,

Valenciennea helsdingenii (Gobiidae, Gobiiformes) from

the south-east coast of India. Zookeys, 323: 91-97. Doi.

org/10.3897/zookeys.323.5440.

Knebelsberger, T. and Thiel, R. 2014. Identication of gobies

(Teleostei: Perciformes: Gobiidae) from the North and

Baltic Seas combining morphological analysis and DNA

barcoding. Zool. J. Linnean. Soc., 172: 831-845. doi.

org/10.1111/zoj.12189.

Kumar, A. T. T., Prakash, S., Rao, V. R. and Gunasundari, V.

2015. First record of two species of goby sh, Cryptocentrus

cyanotaenia Bleeker and Istigobius diadema Steindachner

(Perciformes: Gobiidae) in Indian waters. Indian. J. Mar.

Sci., 44(8): 1252-1256.

Kumar, S., Stecher, G. and Tamura, K. 2016: MEGA7: Molecular

Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 7.0 for bigger

datasets. Mol. Biol. Evol., 33(7): 1870-1874. doi: 10.1093/

molbev/msw054.

Myers, R. F. 1991. Micronesian reef shes. A comprehensive

guide to the coral reef shes of Micronesia, 2nd edn. Coral

Graphics, Barrigada, Guam, 298 pp.

Myers, R. F. 1999. Micronesian reef shes: a comprehensive

guide to the coral reef shes of Micronesia, 3rd edn. Coral

Graphics, Barrigada, Guam, 330 pp.

Rajan, P. T., Sreeraj, R. C. and Immanuel, T. 2013. Fishes of

Andaman and Nicobar Islands: a Checklist, J. Andaman

Sci. Ass., 18(1): 47-87.

Randall, J. E., Allen, G. R., and Steene, R. C. 1990. Fishes of the

Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press,

Bathurst, NSW, 541 pp.

Sambrook, S. J., Russel, D. W., Janssen, K. A. and Irwuin, N. J.

2001. Molecular cloning - A laboratory manual, 3rd edn.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, 2100 pp.

Smith, J. L. B., Smith, M. M. and Heemstra, P. C. 1986. Smiths’

Sea shes, Macmillan, South Africa, 1047 pp.

Syms, C. and Jones, P. G. 2004. Habitat structure, disturbance

and the composition of sand - dwelling goby assemblages

in a coral reef lagoon. Mar. Ecol. Pro. Ser., 268: 221-230.

DOI: 10.3354/meps268221.

Thacker, C. E. 2011. Systematics of Gobiidae. In: Patzner, R. A.,

Van Tassell, J. L., Kovacic, M., Kapoor, B. G. (Eds.),

Biology of gobies. Science Publishers, Boca Raton,

p. 129-36.

Viswambharan, D., Pavan-Kumar, A., Singh, D. P., Jaiswar, A.

K., Chakraborty, S. K., Nair, J. R. and Lakra, W. S. 2013.

First record of whitebarred goby from Indian waters

divergence value of A. phalaena were observed between

congeners of Amblygobius. This high divergence value

conrms that A. phalaena and A. albimaculatus are two

distinct species. This observation is in congruence with

the previous studies that disproved synonymisation of

A. phalaena and A. albimaculatus (Randall et al., 1990).

Several previous studies have successfully used DNA

barcodes for accurately identifying gobiids (Viswambaran

et al., 2013; Knebelsberger and Thiel, 2014).

Larvae/juvenile dispersal through sea currents could

be responsible for extended distribution of this species

in Indian waters. The distribution and abundance of

A. phalaena has been reported to be positively correlated

with topography and grain size and negatively correlated

with depth and disturbance (Syms and Jones, 2004).

Several previous studies have also reported new

distributional records of gobiid shes such as two stripe

goby, Valenciennea helsdingenii and Cryptocentrus

cyanotaenia from Gulf of Mannar, India (Kannan

et al., 2013; Kumar et al., 2015). Further, extensive

ichthyological surveys employing morphological and

molecular tools would be required to study its population

status. The present study would enrich the present

ichthyofaunal diversity database of India and help in sh

resource management.

References

Allen, G. R. and Swainston, R. 1988. The marine shes of north-

western Australia. A eld guide for anglers and divers.

Western Australian Museum, Perth. i-vi + 1-201, Pls. 1-70.

Bauchot, M. L., Desoutter, M., Hoese, D. F. and Larson, H. K.

1991. Catalogue critique des types de Poissons du Museum

national d’Histoire naturelle. (Suite) Sous-ordre des

Gobioidei. Bull. du Mu. Nat. d’Hist. Nat., 4e ser.13, section

A,1-2, supplement: p. 1-82.

Chatterjee, K. T. and Mishra, S. S. 2012. A new genus and new

species of gobiod sh (Gobiidae:Gobionellinae) from

Sunderbans, India. Rec. Zool. Surv. India, 112(4): 85-88.

Close, P. G. and Gouws, G. 2007. Cryptic estuarine sh larvae

(Pisces: Gobiidae) identied as Pseudogobius olorum

(Sauvage, 1880) using allozyme markers. J. Fish Biol.,

71: 288-293.

Cuvier, G. and Valenciennes, A. 1837. Histoire naturelle des

poissons. Tome douzieme. Suite du livre quatorzieme.

Gobioides. Livre quinzieme. Acanthopterygiens a

pectorales pediculees, 12 Pls, p. 344-368.

Eschmeyer, W. N. and Fong, J. D. 2013. Species by Family/

Subfamily. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/

ichthyology/catalog/SpeciesByFamily.asp.Electronic

version (Accessed 14 October 2017).

121

Ward, R. D., Zemlak. T. S., Innes, B. H., Last, P. R. and Hebert,

P. D. N. 2005. DNA barcoding Australia’s sh species.

Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci., 360: 1847-57.

DOI:10.1098/rstb.2005.1716.

Date of Receipt : 19.10.2017

Date of Acceptance : 05.09.2018

N. Daniel et al.

DNA barcoding of gobiid shes (Perciformes, Gobioidei).

Mitochondrial DNA, 26(1): 15-19. doi: 10.3109/19401

736.2013.834438.

First report of the Olive flathead gudgeon, Butis gymnopomus (Bleeker 1853) from Kerala waters with taxonomic notes on B. butis (Hamilton 1822) and B. koilomatodon (Bleeker 1849)

Preprint

Full-text available

Jun 2023

This article provides information on the taxonomy and distribution of the poorly known gobioid genus Butis from a tropical Ramsar site, Vembanad-Kole in Kerala state, India. The results of integrative taxonomy confirm the presence of B. gymnopomus in Kerala. Identity of the other two species – B . butis and B. koilomatodon in the study area was also confirmed through morphology and mitochondrial Cytochrome C Oxidase 1 gene. Butis gymnopomus is distinguished from B. butis by the absence of scales on the interorbital region and the absence of axillary scales. The interorbital region is narrow in B. gymnopomus compared to B. butis . The overall K2P genetic distance between the species was found to be 14%. The study highlights the necessity of a detailed study on systematics of gobioids based on large regional sampling.

Mitochondrial DNA Part A DNA Mapping, Sequencing, and Analysis Multigene barcoding and phylogeny of selected Engraulidae species View Crossmark data Multigene barcoding and phylogeny of selected Engraulidae species

Article

Mar 2019

Anchovies (Engraulidae) are one of the ecologically important groups and often difficult to identify due to their small size and overlapping morphological characters. In the present study, reference DNA barc-odes were generated for 82 individuals representing 13 species of Engraulidae family using mitochon-drial Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S rRNA genes. The average genetic distance value of COI gene for conspecific, congeneric and confamilial is 0.25, 20.45 and 22.28%, respectively. Mitochondrial 16S rRNA showed an average divergence value of 0.60, 10.28 and 14.37% for within spe-cies, between species and within families, respectively. Comparison of the present study reference barc-odes with the reported sequences revealed high frequency of misidentification of species and possible occurrence of cryptic species in this family. Phylogenetic tree reconstructed using different methodolo-gies revealed monophyletic nature of genus Stolephorus and the evolutionary relationship within genus Stolephorus is defined as ([S. insularis: S. tamilensis] S. dubiosus (S. waitei [S. commersonnii: S. indicus])).

Multigene barcoding and phylogeny of selected Engraulidae species

Article

Mar 2019

Anchovies (Engraulidae) are one of the ecologically important groups and often difficult to identify due to their small size and overlapping morphological characters. In the present study, reference DNA barcodes were generated for 82 individuals representing 13 species of Engraulidae family using mitochondrial Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S rRNA genes. The average genetic distance value of COI gene for conspecific, congeneric and confamilial is 0.25, 20.45 and 22.28%, respectively. Mitochondrial 16S rRNA showed an average divergence value of 0.60, 10.28 and 14.37% for within species, between species and within families, respectively. Comparison of the present study reference barcodes with the reported sequences revealed high frequency of misidentification of species and possible occurrence of cryptic species in this family. Phylogenetic tree reconstructed using different methodologies revealed monophyletic nature of genus Stolephorus and the evolutionary relationship within genus Stolephorus is defined as ([S. insularis: S. tamilensis] S. dubiosus (S. waitei [S. commersonnii: S. indicus])).

Annotated checklist of the Indian gobioid fishes (order: Gobiiformes)

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2024

Research on the distribution of gobioid fishes in India remains relatively scarce compared to the broader spectrum of ichthyofaunal diversity across the country. Koumans seminal work in 1941 is the most extensive investigation to date, documenting 124 species within this group. Since then, subsequent studies have contributed to enrich our understanding of goby diversity in India. In the current compilation, a thorough examination reveals the presence of 258 goby species distributed among five families: Eleotridae (19 species), Gobiidae (224 species), Kraemeriidae (1 species), Microdesmidae (12 species), and Schindleriidae (2 species). Notably, over the past two decades, the gobioid diversity of India has experienced a significant surge, with nearly 50 additional species recorded from the Indian region. The taxonomic nomenclature and status adopted in this manuscript are primarily consistent with the standards outlined in the Catalogue of Fishes. It can be anticipated that, future comprehensive surveys, targeting the diverse marine ecosystems along the coastline of India will reveal an even greater diversity of goby species in the region.

MEGA7: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 7.0 for Bigger Datasets

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2016

We present the latest version of the Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) software, which contains many sophisticated methods and tools for phylogenomics and phylomedicine. In this major upgrade, MEGA has been optimized for use on 64-bit computing systems for analyzing bigger datasets. Researchers can now explore and analyze tens of thousands of sequences in MEGA. The new version also provides an advanced wizard for building timetrees and includes a new functionality to automatically predict gene duplication events in gene family trees. The 64-bit MEGA is made available in two interfaces: graphical and command line. The graphical user interface (GUI) is a native Microsoft Windows application that can also be used on Mac OSX. The command line MEGA is available as native applications for Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX. They are intended for use in high-throughput and scripted analysis. Both versions are available from www.megasoftware.net free of charge.

A New Genus and New Species of Gobioid Fish (Gobiidae: Gobionellinae) from Sunderbans, India

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2013

First record of two species of goby fish, Cryptocentrus cyanotaenia Bleeker and Istigobius diadema Steindachner (Perciformes: Gobiidae) in Indian waters

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2015
INDIAN J MAR SCI

Two goby fishes Cryptocentrus cyanotaenia Bleeker, 1853 and Istigobius diadema Steindachner 1877 were collected from the Tuticorin and Mandapam coastal waters of Tamilnadu, India. C. cyanotaenia is well distinguished by the presence of grey color body with 9 narrow white bars; blue lines and spots with markings on the head and snout; yellow margins of dorsal, anal and caudal fins. I. diadema is easily recognized by bold black line on the posterior portion of the eye; head region with a dark reddish tinge; dorsal, anal and caudal fins with dark spots. © 2015, National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR). All rights reserved.

DNA barcoding of gobiid fishes (Perciformes, Gobioidei)

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2013
MITOCHONDR DNA

Abstract Gobiids constitute a major proportion of fish population in both tropical and temperate freshwater as well as marine ecosystem. Due to their small size, cryptic ecology and ambiguous morphological characters, gobiids diversity was not documented completely. In this study, DNA barcodes were generated for 11 species of gobiids, collected from the Ashtamudi Lake, India. The mitochondrial COI gene was amplified using universal primers and the resulted 650 bp amplicon was sequenced. The COI barcodes clearly distinguished all the species with high inter-specific genetic distance values than intra-specific values based on K2P (Kimura 2 Parameter) model. The average genetic distance (K2P model) within species, genus and family was 1.2%, 22.2% and 25.3%, respectively. In addition to barcode-based species identification system, Nucleotide Diagnostic (ND) characters specific for species were identified. The Neighbor-Joining tree revealed distinct clusters shared by the species of same genera.

First record of the twostripe goby, Valenciennea helsdingenii (Gobiidae, Gobiiformes) from the southeast coast of India

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2013

Two specimens of Valenciennea helsdingenii (Bleeker, 1858) were collected off Punnakayal coast, from Gulf of Mannar, southeast coast of India in November 2012. The morphometric and meristic characters of the recorded specimens are described and discussed. This is the first record of the species from the Indian waters that is a range extension of its known range within the Indian Ocean.

Habitat structure, disturbance and the composition of sand-dwelling goby assemblages in a coral reef lagoon

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2004

Coral reef lagoons and back reef areas are composed more of sand than hard reef habitat. They support a diverse mix of fishes, including species restricted to sandy habitats and those dependent on both hard and soft substrata. However the resident assemblages associated with sand and the factors affecting their distribution and abundance are poorly understood. Here we examine spatial co-variation in the abundance of burrowing goby assemblages and habitat characteristics in the lagoon at Lizard Island (Great Barrier Reef). The aim was to identify which key habitat-variables should be incorporated into models to predict the structure of sand-dwelling fish communities. We focused on 10 common sand goby species from 7 genera: Amblyeleotris, Cryptocentrus, Ctenogoblops and Vanderhorstia (associated with burrows constructed by alpheid shrimps), and Amblygobius, Oplopomus and Valenciennea (free-living, burrowing species). Spatial patterns were examined by stratifying the lagoon into 6 recognizable habitat zones, and conducting visual transects in replicate sites within each zone. The abundance of all goby species encountered and habitat variables (depth, distance from reef, topography, disturbance of different types, sediment composition) were recorded in each transect. Habitat characteristics and fish abundance, diversity and species composition differed markedly among habitat types and sites within habitats. There was a strong association between sites grouped according to habitat characteristics and goby assemblage. These changes reflected species-specific responses to different combinations of habitat variables and their interactions. All habitat variables measured were at least partially correlated, either positively or negatively, with the abundance of some of the species. Depth, distance from consolidated reef, sediment composition and the level of disturbance were particularly important. Our study indicates that sandy habitats, although superficially uniform, support highly structured fish communities influenced by a wide range of factors.

Smiths’ Sea Fishes

Chapter

Jan 1986

Dr. D. S. Henderson, Chairman of the 1. L. B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology and Vice Chancellor of Rhodes University This book is a unique, international collaborative effort ranging all of the colour plates for the book. For the past of 76 scientists, representing 15 countries. Several skilled eight years, she has been assisted in the research, writing artists and photographers have also contributed to the and editing of the book by Dr. P. C. Heemstra. numerous and beautiful illustrations. Research done in It is essential for the proper management of the marine South Africa was supported by the Council for Scientific fish resources of southern Africa that we know what species and Industrial Research. Work on the book at the J.L.B. we are dealing with. This book will greatly facilitate the Smith Institute was also funded by the Department of identification of our fishes. It will thus be of vital import National Education and The Trustees of the Sea Fishes of ance to the understanding and wise use of our tremendously Southern Africa Book Fund. Expenses of visits by ichthy diverse and valuable fish fauna. ologists from overseas were defrayed by a grant from the We are proud of the affiliation of the J.L.B. Smith Insti John S. Schlesinger Foundation. tute with Rhodes University and happy to see the successful Although this book is an impressive contribution to the completion of this long-awaited work.

Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea

Article

Jan 1991
B MAR SCI

W. J. Richards

Cryptic estuarine gobiid fish larvae (Pisces: Gobiidae) identified as Pseudogobius olorum using allozyme markers

Article

Sep 2007
J FISH BIOL

Allozyme electrophoresis was used to identify cryptic larvae of potentially four sympatric south-western Australian estuarine gobiid species: Afurcagobius suppositus, Arenigobius bifrenatus, Favonigobius lateralis and Pseudogobius olorum. Genotypes of six diagnostic loci expressed in 46 unidentified larval gobiids indicated that they were unambiguously P. olorum.

Identification of gobies (Teleostei: Perciformes: Gobiidae) from the North and Baltic Seas combining morphological analysis and DNA barcoding

Jan 2014
831-845

T Knebelsberger
R Thiel

Knebelsberger, T. and Thiel, R. 2014. Identification of gobies (Teleostei: Perciformes: Gobiidae) from the North and Baltic Seas combining morphological analysis and DNA barcoding. Zool. J. Linnean. Soc., 172: 831-845. doi. org/10.1111/zoj.12189.