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Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences
Vol. 49 (07), June 2020, pp. 1184-1188
First occurrence of three groupers of genus Epinephelus Bloch, 1793 (Perciformes:
Serranidae) from the marine waters of Odisha coast, Bay of Bengal, India
P Sahooa, S R Mohantyb, D Rayc, G Mishraa & Anil Mohapatra*,b
aDepartment of Zoology, Berhampur University, Bhanja Bihar, Odisha 760 007, India
bEstuarine Biology Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Gopalpur-on-Sea, Odisha 761 002, India
cBajkul Milani Mahavidyalaya, Kismat Bajkul, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal 721 655, India
*[E-mail: anil2k7@gmail.com]
Received 03 January 2019; revised 23 May 2019
Present paper reports the occurrence of three grouper species Epinephelus areolatus, Epinephelus magniscuttis, and
Epinephelus longispinis from Odisha coast for the first time and an evidential record of Epinephelus radiatus. Report of these three
species of groupers (Family: Serranidae) have increased the diversity of groupers to 15 species for the Odisha coast.
[Keywords: Grouper, Gopalpur, New record, Paradeep]
Introduction
The Family Serranidae comprises 5 subfamilies
(Serraninae, Anthiadinae, Epinephelinae, Liopropomatinae
& Grammistinae) representing about 568 valid species
worldwide1. Along the Indian coast, family Serranidae
represents 85 species belonging to 19 genera2. The sub-
family Epinephelinae includes 15 genera and
160 species, of which 110 are from Indo-Pacific region3
and the genus Epinephelus includes 98 species, of which
70 are from Indo-Pacific area4.
The Family serranidae is represented by 9 species
from the genus Epinephelus5-7, and 1 species each
from the genus Chelidoperca5 and Cephalopholis8,
respectively along the Odisha coast. Very recently,
one more species Cephalopholis formosa (Shaw &
Nodder, 1812) has been reported9 taking the species to
two in Genus Cephalopholis along the Odisha coast.
During the collection of grouper specimens along
the Odisha coast the authors came across four grouper
species which were not reported from the Odisha
coast. Hence, the paper reports Epinephelus areolatus
(Forsskål, 1775); Epinephelus magniscuttis Postel,
Fourmanoir & Guézé, 1963 and Epinephelus
longispinis (Kner, 1864) for the first time from the
marine waters of Odisha, Bay of Bengal.
Materials and Methods
E) Odisha, along the east coast of India, Bay of
Bengal with the help of local fishermen through gill
net. Three species of groupers, E. areolatus,
E. magniscuttis and E. longispinis were collected
afresh from the marine waters of Gopalpur and
Paradeep coast which were not reported from the
Odisha coast. Immediately after collection
photography was done to note their colouration
pattern. One species Epinephelus radiatus which was
just listed by Panda & Parida7 is also collected during
the sampling and the details are given herewith for the
evidential record. The specimens were identified
following taxonomic key of Heemstra & Randall3.
E. longispinis was identified following Fischer and
Bianchi10. Morphometric measurements were
worked out with digital calliper (Table 1) and
Magnus MS13/24 stereo zoom microscope was used
for scale and gill raker count. Then the specimens
were fixed in 10 % formalin and registered &
deposited in Estuarine Biological Regional Centre,
Zoological Survey of India, Gopalpur-on-sea
and the details of registration numbers are provided
under each species. The detailed morphometric
measurements and characters of four species are
described below.
Results
Systematics
Order: Perciformes Bleeker, 1863
Family: Serranidae Swainson, 1839
Genus: Epinephelus Bloch, 1793
SAHOO et al.: REPORT OF FOUR GROUPERS FROM ODISHA COAST
1185
1. Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskål, 1775): Areolate
grouper
Materials examined: EBRC/ZSI/F10811, 1 ex., 243
mm SL. Collection site: Gopalpur coast
Characters: D: XI, 17; A: III, 8; P: 16; V: I, 5.
Body elongated with a scaly flap of skin joining
base of upper pectoral fin rays to body; mouth large
and terminal. Head length (HL) is 2.8 times in
standard length (SL). Upper edge of preopercle
serrated while lower edge is free of serrations.
Slightly emarginated caudal fin. Both maxilla and
mandible bear teeth along with palatine teeth. Body
depth 3.3 times in SL. Eyes moderate and 5.2 times in
HL. Inter orbital space 5.5 times in HL. Snout slightly
shorter than eye, 4.2 times in HL. Ctenoid scales
cover the body. Body depth is smaller than HL, 1.2
times in HL. Lateral line possess 50 pored scales. 14
rows of ctenoid scales lie between lateral line and
dorsal fin origin. Gill rakers on upper limb and
lower limb were 9 and 14, respectively. Base of dorsal
spiny part & soft part are 3.4 & 4.1 times in SL
respectively.
Colouration: Head, body and fins coloured pale
brown. Small, closely placed, round, yellowish brown
to dark brown spots present throughout body.
A moderately broad white margin, present on caudal
fin (Fig. 1).
Distribution (Indian coast): From Indian waters the
species isreported from Gujarat11, Kerala12, Tamilnadu13,
Maharashtra14, Andaman Nicobar Island15 & Andhra
Pradesh16. This paper extends the distribution further
northwards to Odisha coast.
2. Epinephelus magniscuttis Postel, Fourmanoir &
Guézé, 1963: Speckled grouper
Materials examined: EBRC/ZSI/F10806, 2ex. 151
175 mm SL. Collection site: Paradeep coast
Characters: D: XI, 15; A: III, 8; P: 18; V: I, 5.
Body elongated with a straight head, and terminal
large mouth. HL 2.3 times in SL. Eye moderate, 5.0
5.5 times in HL. Gill rakers on first gill arch are 26:
upper limb 10 & lower limb 16. Lateral line scales 69
& midlateral body scales rough. Body depth 2.9 3.1
times in SL. Scale rows between lateral line and
dorsal fin origin 15. Auxiliary scales are absent.
Colouration: Round distinctly separated black
spots are present on head, body, dorsal fin and a few
on caudal fin. Spots are not uniformly distributed.
Table 1 Morphometric measurements and Meristic Formula of four species of Epinephelus
Characters
E. areolatus
E. magniscuttis
E. radiatus
E. longispinis
Meristic Formula
Dorsal fin rays
XI + 17
XI + 15
XI + 13 - 15
XI + 16
Pectoral fin rays
16
18
15 - 16
16
Caudal fin rays
15
15
15 - 16
15
Anal fin rays
III + 8
III + 8
III + 8
III + 8
Pelvic fin rays
I + 5
I + 5
I + 5
I + 5
Morphometric Ratios
In HL
Snout
4.2
3.9 - 4.6
4.0 - 4.9
4.7
Eye diameter
5.2
5.0 - 5.5
4.0 - 4.9
4.2
IOS
5.5
5.9 - 6.5
5.6 - 7.0
6.3
In SL
Head length
2.8
2.3
2.1 - 2.3
2.6
Pre dorsal length
2.9
2.5
2.3 - 2.6
3.3
Pre anal Length
1.4
1.3 - 1.4
1.4 - 1.5
1.5
Dorsal fin base length
1.9
1.9
1.7 - 2.0
1.7
Dorsal fin height
7.8
5.6 - 6.6
5.6 - 6.5
6.5
Base of dorsal fin spiny part
3.4
3.3 - 3.6
2.8 - 3.3
1.2
Base of dorsal fin soft part
4.1
4.0 - 4.4
4.5 - 5.0
3.9
Anal fin base length
5.8
5.2 - 6.0
5.0 - 6.8
5.8
Anal fin height
5.9
4.7 - 5.5
4.1 - 6.8
5.4
Pectoral fin length
4.8
3.8 - 4.2
4.0 - 4.3
4.6
Pelvic fin length
5.7
5.0 - 5.3
4.6 - 5.3
5.6
Caudal Fin Length
5.2
4.1 - 4.6
4.7 - 7.4
4.5
Body depth
3.3
2.9 - 3.1
2.1 - 3.3
3.3
Caudal peduncle length
5.1
4.4 - 5.3
5.5 - 6.5
5.9
Caudal peduncle depth
8.7
8.8 - 8.9
8.9 - 10.8
9.8
INDIAN J GEO-MAR. SCI, VOL 49, NO 06, JULY 2020
1186
Paired fins, anal fin and ventral part of body & head
are devoid of spots (Fig. 2).
Distribution (Indian coast): From Indian waters the
species E. magniscuttis was reported only from
Andhra Pradesh17. This paper adds its distribution to
Odisha coast which further extends the range
northwards.
3. Epinephelus radiatus (Day, 1868): Oblique-
banded grouper
Materials Examined: EBRC/ZSI/F9673; 65 mm
SL; 1 ex, Collection site; Gopalpur coast, EBRC/
ZSI/F9662; 135 156 mm SL; 2 ex, Collection site;
Paradeep coast, EBRC/ZSI/F9717; 166 mm SL; 1 ex,
Collection site; Gopalpur coast, EBRC/ZSI/F10807;
187 mm SL; 1 ex, Collection site; Paradeep coast.
Characters: D: XI, 13 15; A: III, 8; P: 15 16;
V: I, 5.
Elongated body with straight head, mouth terminal
and large. Maxilla large, reaching to rear end of eye.
HL 2.1 2.3 times in SL. Eyes 4.0 4.9 times in HL.
Number of gill rakers on upper limb is 8 10 and on
lower limb are 13 16. Lateral line scales 57 61.
Scale rows between lateral line and dorsal fin origin
are 13 14. Body depth 2.1 3.3 times in SL. Deeply
incised interspinous membrane of dorsal fin. Caudal
fin rounded, 4.7 7.4 in SL.
Colouration: Body light brownish grey in colour.
Four dark edged bands, three below the dorsal fin,
2nd and 3rd bifurcated and 4th on caudal peduncle.
From the rear part of eye originates an irregular
dark edged band; which bifurcate immediately. Two
oblique & narrow bands are present on opercular
region. Small dark brown dots irregularly distributed
at the base of dorsal fin and a few on caudal fin
(Fig. 3).
Distribution (Indian coast): From Indian waters the
species was reported from Andhra Pradesh17,
Maharashtra18, Kerala12 and also listed from Odisha
coast7. This paper provides the first evidential report
of E. radiatus from Odisha coast.
4. Epinephelus longispinis (Kner, 1864): Longspine
grouper
Materials Examined: EBRC/ZSI/F10816, 1 ex.,
196 SL; Collection site; Gopalpur coast.
Characters: D: XI, 16; A: III, 8; P: 16; V: I, 5.
Elongated body with a straight head, mouth
terminal & large, maxilla reaching the rear end of eye;
oblong rear nostril. HL 2.6 times in SL. Eyes large,
4.2 times in HL. Number of gill rakers on first gill
arch are 9 on upper limb and 15 on lower limb.
Lateral line scales 52. Scale rows between lateral line
and dorsal fin origin 14. Body depth 3.3 times in SL.
Moderately incised interspinous membrane of dorsal
fin. Caudal fin rounded, 4.5 times in SL. Third dorsal
spine is the longest one, 16 % of SL.
Colouration: Body pinkish to brownish in colour
with well separated small round reddish brown spots
on head and operculum. Trunk with oval spots and
caudal region with streaks. A narrow white line
present on rear edge of soft dorsal, caudal and anal fin
rays. Small round spots on dorsal, pectoral and pelvic
fin. Caudal fin, anal fin and ventral part of body
spotless. A brick red stripe present above and parallel
to maxilla running halfway in operculum (Fig. 4).
Distribution (Indian coast): From Indian waters
E. longispinis was reported from Visakhapatnam19,
Andaman Nicobar20, Tamil Nadu21 and from Andhra
Fig. 1 — Epinephelus areolatus (Forsskål, 1775)
Fig. 2 — Epinephelus magniscuttis Postel, Fourmanoir & Guézé,
1963
Fig. 3 — Epinephelus radiatus (Day, 1868)
SAHOO et al.: REPORT OF FOUR GROUPERS FROM ODISHA COAST
1187
Pradesh16. This paper extends the distribution area of
E. longispinis to Odisha.
Discussion
From Odisha coast 8 species of the genus
Epinephelus were reported earlier by Barman et al.5
and Mohanty et al.6. During the present study 3 more
species of genus Epinephelus i.e., E. areolatus, E.
magniscuttis and E. longispinis were reported from
Odisha coast which has some peculiar characteristics
that isolate them from their sibling species. Also the
paper gives the first evidential report of E. radiatus
from the southern coast of Odisha. Presence of
rounded to slightly angular anal fin, caudal fin with a
narrow white stripe and incised interspinous dorsal
fin membrane differ E. areolatus from E. chlorostigma
& E. multinotatus respectively. Although E. magniscuttis
and E. epistictus share more characters in common
but absence of auxiliary scales in E. magniscuttis is an
eminent feature that isolate it from E. epistictus. The
unique bifurcation banding pattern of E. radiatus
isolates it from its closest congener E. morruha.
Presence of reddish brown streaks towards posterior
end of body and a narrow white stripe on dorsal soft
fin, caudal fin and pectoral fin differentiate
E. longispinis from E. tauvina.
Acknowledgements
Authors are thankful to Dr. Kailash Chandra,
Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for
providing necessary facilities for the work.
Conflict of Interest
There is no conflict of Interest.
Author Contributions
PS, SRM and DR: Collection, preservation,
preliminary identification; and GM and AM: Concept
designing, Identification and Critical analysis.
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