Lutjanus monostigm (Cuvier, 1828)

Ray, Dipanajan, Mohapatra, Anil, Mishra, S. S., Yennawar, Prasanna & Ghorai, Narayan, 2017, Snappers (Perciformes: Lutjanidae) of West Bengal coast with eight new records and a key for their identification, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (1), pp. 39-48 : 41

Lutjanus monostigm (Cuvier, 1828)

(One-spot snapper)

1828. Mesoprion monostigma Cuvier , in Cuvier & Valencieennes, Hist. nat. poiss, 2: 446 ( Seychelles).

1985. Lutjanus monostigma : Allen, FAO Fish. Synop., (125) 6: 106, pl. 19, Figure 71.

Material examined: MARC /ZSI/F 2404, 1 ex., 75 mm SL, Digha Mohona, 03.02.2012, Coll. D. Ray.

Diagnosis: D X, 13; A III, 8; P 16; V I, 5; LL 50; GR 19. Body slightly slender, its depth 2.77 in SL; dorsal profile of the head gently sloped, HL 2.5 in SL; mouth somewhat oblique; maxilla reaching below fore border of eye; eye

4.28 in HL; interorbital space 4.68 in HL; snout 3.33 in HL. Preorbital equal to eye diameter; preopercular knob and notch poorly developed; preopercle with 6 rows of scale. Vomerine teeth patch cresentic without a medial posterior extension; tongue smooth, without teeth. Longitudinal scale rows ascending obliquely above lateral line and running horizontally below it; predorsal scales beginning well behind eyes. First dorsal spine less than half length of second; third spine longest among dorsal spines; first anal spine less than half length of second which is as long as third; soft dorsal rounded and soft anal truncate; caudal fin emarginated.

Colour: Body brownish yellow above and silvery below; each scale with more or less distinct silvery spot. A large black blotch in lateral line below junction of spinous and soft portions of dorsal fin; fins yellow.

Distribution: Indo-Pacific: East Africa to the Marquesas and Line islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to Australia (Froece and Pauly, 2013). In Indian coastal waters this species was reported from Andaman & Nicobar Islands ( Rao, 2009); Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu ( Venkataraman et al., 2007); Andhra Pradesh ( Barman et al., 2004), Gujarat ( Barman et al., 2000) and Maharashtra ( Barman et al., 2012).