Fish samples under the the three genera Balistoides, Pseudobalistes and Parabalistes of the family Balistidae were collected from Kalpeni, Minicoy and Agatti islands of Lakshadweep seas and also from Tuticorin, Keelakarai and Mandapam along the south-east-coast of India during 2000-2002. The studies on these three genera revealed variation of colour pattern in fishes collected from south-east coast as well as from Minicoy. Parabalistes Bleeker, 1866 which was earlier considered to be a synonym of genus Pseudobalistes has been resurrected as a valid genus. Two species of genus Balistoides and one species each of Pseudobalistes and Parabalistes reported and redescribed in the present study from the Indian seas are Balistoides viridescens (Bloch and Schneider, 1801), Balistoides conspicillum (Bloch and Schneider, 1801), Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus (Ruppell, 1828) and Parabalistes fuscus (Bloch and Schneider, 1801).

The super class Pisces makes up more than half of the 55,000 species of living vertebrates. Fishes are very diverse animals and can be categorised in many ways. Fish species diversity is roughly divided equally between marine (oceanic) and freshwater ecosystems. Elasmobranchs are among the largest of the marine fish species. Sharks, rays, skates, saw-fishes form a distinctive group of fishes that are collectively referred to as Elasmobranchs. The elasmobranch is a relatively less studied group of fishes. The study on elasmobranch diversity was carried out between December 2020 to November 2021 from the Saurashtra Coast – the peninsular region of Gujarat. The diversity study was carried out by frequent monthly visits to the major fish landings centres such as Okha, Porbandar, Mangrol, Veraval and Diu. The total skates and rays landed as regular fishing at near shore area fishing and incidental components by the three main gears, trawl net, drift net and hooks-and-lines. During the study, a total of 7 species of skates and 7 species rays were examined and identified morphologically and morphometrically. The IUCN status of the species was recorded and it was found that 2 species are Near Threatened, 3 species are Endangered, 3 species are Vulnerable, 4 species are Critically Endangered and 2 species are Data Deficient. The study provides the information of the diversity, distribution and globally IUCN status of the skates and rays found in Saurashtra region. The data will be helpful to fill up the data deficiency in elasmobranch diversity. This will eventually help in making the conservation policies for elasmobranch fisheries.

Grunts (family Haemulidae) are among the most commercially important fish in Bangladesh. This paper provides brief diagnostic characters of five previously reported grunt species: Plectorhinchus pictus (Thunberg, 1792); Pomadasys andamanensis McKay et Satapoomin, 1994; Pomadasys argenteus (Forsskål, 1775); Pomadasys argyreus (Valenciennes, 1833); Pomadasys maculatus (Bloch, 1793) and two new distributional records: Pomadasys guoraca (Cuvier, 1829) and Plectorhinchus macrospilus Satapoomin et Randall, 2000. The fishes were collected from the Saint Martin’s Island coral reef-like ecosystem and the adjacent sea of the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh. The examined specimens were identified and diagnosed based on their morphometric characters and DNA barcoding COI gene. The new records of Pomadasys guoraca and Plectorhinchus macrospilus from Bangladesh greatly extend their distributional range in the Bay of Bengal. An updated checklist of grunts of Bangladesh is provided.

A new species of Harpadon Lesueur, 1825 captured from the continental slope area 19° 53’ N - 69° 23’E (north-eastern Arabian Sea) is described. The species Harpadon nudus sp. nov. was identified possessing a prominent trilobed caudal fin and a wide mouth with strong fang like barbed teeth and has been distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: slender, completely scaleless body with very short pectoral (8.6 - 13.8% SL) and pelvic (16.4 - 21.6% SL) fins, large eyes (9.1 - 15.1% HL) with narrow inter-orbital width (15% of HL) and single pair of nares, situated close to the tip of the narrow snout. Morphologically it differs from the partially scaled species such as Harpadon nehereus in having very short pectoral fins not reaching up to its dorsal fin, single pair of nares and a pointed snout in dorsal view. It can be distinguished from Harpadon microchir by its greater head length of 22 - 26% SL; absence of scales at the base of the adipose fin and on...