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Bangladesh Gets New Marine Fish (Actinopterygii: Teleostei): First Observation of Seven Species from Rocky Tidal Habitats of the St. Martin’s Island, Bay of Bengal

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Abstract

On the northeastern flank of the Bay of Bengal, the St. Martin’s Island, a sedimentary continental formation, is the only maritime island and an Ecologically Critical Area of Bangladesh. Rock beds fringing the island from supratidal to subtidal zone with a subtidal depth around 10 m and presence of non-reef forming scleractinian corals from lower rocky intertidal to about 200–600 m offshore comprise a rich but least-explored rocky tidal habitat. Addressing the knowledge gap, during December 2017, an expedition was conducted to observe fish diversity caught in beach seines, gillnets and drifting handlines. Studying morphological and meristic characters of the collected specimens revealed 7 bony fish species for the first time in Bangladesh and northern seaboard of the Bay of Bengal. These are Ablennes hians, Callionymus erythraeus, Ellochelon vaigiensis, Grammatobothus polyophthalmus, Istiblennius dussumieri, Omobranchus punctatus, and Trichonotus setiger. The family Trichonotidae and the genera Ablennes, Callionymus, Grammatobothus, and Istiblennius, too, represent the first record for Bangladesh. Omobranchus punctatus, I. dussumieri, C. erythraeus and T. setiger were strongly associated with the tidal boulder beds. Grammatobothus polyophthalmus, a flounder threatened by shrimp harvesting, was caught in trawling gillnet operated in the surrounding subtidal waters. Ellochelon vaigiensis, a catadromous mullet known to spend natal stages near shoreline, was collected from a rock-pool. Fish diversity of the St. Martin’s Island is not well understood; the last comprehensive checklist dated back to 1997. Thus, these results remarkably obtained from a cursory expedition entail a thorough diversity assessment of the island.

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Data Availability

The datasets prepared and analysed to support the findings are provided in this published work. The pertinent photographs used during the current study are available are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author. Specimens have been deposited at the repository of the Kazi Zaker Husain Museum, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank to Dr. Hiroyuki Motomura (Kagoshima University Museum) and Dr. Eri Katayama (Australian Museum) for their insight on the sand-diver species. Deep gratitude is to Dr. Ronald Fricke (State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart) for his extremely helpful comments on the dragonet and the blennies. The assistance from the Cosmos Foundation in managing this rapid survey is greatly commended.

Funding

The expedition was supported by the Cosmos Foundation. This support, however, had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    Muntasir Akash, Anwar Palash, Nusrat Jahan Urmy & Tania Zakir

  2. WildTeam, Cosmos Centre, 69/1 New Circular Road, Malibagh, Dhaka, 1217, Bangladesh

    Meherun Niger Sultana

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  1. Muntasir Akash
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Contributions

MA designed the expedition. NJU, AP, MNS were involved in the field survey. NJU and TZ measured the samples. AP assisted in the identification of mullet and blennies. AP compiled pertinent information. TZ prepared the geo-referenced map of the St. Martin’s Island. MA drafted the manuscript, and photographed and processed the images. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Muntasir Akash.

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Conflict if interest

MNS is a current employee of WildTeam Bangladesh, an NGO that closely works with the Cosmos Foundation. Apart from this, the authors declare no competing interest.

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Not applicable as no ethical considerations were required during the survey.

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Akash, M., Palash, A., Urmy, N.J. et al. Bangladesh Gets New Marine Fish (Actinopterygii: Teleostei): First Observation of Seven Species from Rocky Tidal Habitats of the St. Martin’s Island, Bay of Bengal. Thalassas 37, 255–265 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41208-020-00271-3

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