Lagocephalus species

Mishra, Subhrendu Sekhar, Chakraborty, Priyankar, Saren, Saresh Chandra & Sengupta, Anwesha, 2018, First record of Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Riberio 1915 (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) from the West Coast of India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 118 (1), pp. 91-96 : 92

Key to Lagocephalus species

1a. Spinules absent on the dorsal surface between eye and dorsal fin................................................................ 2

1b. Spinules present on the dorsal surface between eye and dorsal fin................................................................ 4

2a. Dorsal fin with 13-15 rays; gill opening not black; distinct dark spots on sides near pectoral fin base; lower third of pectoral fin whitish.... L. lagocephalus

2b. Dorsal fin with 16-19 rays; gill opening surrounded by a black rim; no distinct dark spots around pectoral fins; lower third of pectoral fin dusky, not whitish 3

3a. Anal fin with12-14 rays; caudal fin ray 11; caudal fin lunate, upper lobe of caudal fin longer than lower lobe ............................................................ L. laevigatus

3b. Anal fin with 9-12; caudal fin ray 9-10; caudal fin slightly concave, upper and lower lobes of equal length............................................................. L. inermis

4a. Spinules on back extending to or beyond dorsal fin origin............................................................................. 5

4b. Spinules on back not extending to dorsal fin origin, halfway through interorbital region to dorsal fin base................................................................................ 7

5a. Anal fin rays 11-13; dorsal surface of body without black spots ..................................................... L. lunaris

5b. Anal fin rays 8-11; dorsal surface of body with distinct scattered black spots...................................... 6

6b. Irregular brown to grey or black spots of various shapes and sizes dorsally; raised skinfold present along lower side of caudal peduncle L. suezensis

6a. Regular black spots on body dorsally almost of equal size; no raised skinfold along lower side of caudal peduncle.................................................... L. sceleratus 7a. Caudal fin lunate without medial posterior extension, upper rays relatively projected than lower rays; dorsal two third of caudal fin dark yellow and ventral one third white and without white tips to dorsal and ventral lobes; no dark marking on the dorsal side of caudal peduncle ..................................... .................................... L. spadiceus (Syn. L. wheeleri )

7b. Caudal fin emarginated (often doubly), rays at middle longer in live; caudal fin dark, tips of caudal lobes distinctly white................................................... 8

8a. Pectoral fins pale; a dark patch on the dorsal side of caudal peduncle ........................................ L. guentheri

8b. Pectoral fins dusky; no dark patch on the dorsal side of caudal peduncle. L. cheesemanii (Syn. L. gloveri )