Is this a wrasse? collected from trawl by-catch @ Chennai, east coast of India
This is the Pastel tilefish, Hoplolatilus fronticinctus (Günther 1887), family Malacanthidae.
The species is usually found on sand or coral rubble bottom near reefs, at depths of 40-70 m. It is known from Mauritius, Maldives, India, Andaman Islands and Myanmar, but may be more widespread in the Indian Ocean.
H. fronticinctus was first recorded from India by Talbot (1969):
Talbot, F. H. 1969. The branchiostegid fish Hoplolatilus fronticinctus (Günther) from the Bay of Bengal. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India, 11: 309-310.
This is the Pastel tilefish, Hoplolatilus fronticinctus (Günther 1887), family Malacanthidae.
The species is usually found on sand or coral rubble bottom near reefs, at depths of 40-70 m. It is known from Mauritius, Maldives, India, Andaman Islands and Myanmar, but may be more widespread in the Indian Ocean.
H. fronticinctus was first recorded from India by Talbot (1969):
Talbot, F. H. 1969. The branchiostegid fish Hoplolatilus fronticinctus (Günther) from the Bay of Bengal. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India, 11: 309-310.
Dear Dr Fricke,
thank you for confirming the species! glad that we were able to record the fish from Trawl by catch in the east coast of India. Fishermen claim it to be very rare. Only one more record is available for this fish from Kerala on the west coast. I am trying to track the paper.
thank you again for your valuable inputs
regards
Deepak
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