Pampus candidus (Cuvier, 1829)

Radhakrishnan, Divya P, Kumar, Rahul G, Mohitha, Chelat, Shanis C P, Rajool, Kinattumkara, Bineesh K, Saidumohammad, Basheer V & Gopalakrishnan, Achamveetil, 2019, Resurrection and Re-description of (Cuvier), Silver Pomfret from the Northern Indian Ocean., Zoological Studies 58 (7), pp. 1-10 : 4-7

Redescription of Pampus candidus

Pampus candidus (Cuvier, in Cuvier and Valenciennes 1833) New Combination

Stromateus securifer (Cuvier, in Cuvier and Valenciennes 1833)

Stromateus cinereus ( Day 1876) [in part]

Pampus argenteus ( Haedrich 1967) [in part]

Pampus argenteus ( Talwar and Kacker 1984) [in part]

Pampus argenteus ( Mishra and Srinivasan 1999)

Pampus argenteus ( Bijukumar and Sushama 2000)

S p e c i m e n s E x a m i n e d: Lectotype (present designation) - MNHN-IC-A- 5712, 155 mm SL, “Malabar, India ” ( Modern day Kerala, on the south western coast of India) ( Fig. 3 ). Paralectotypes- MNHN- IC-A-5713, 2 specimens, same locality as lectotype Others -: CMFRI-GB-31.145.1.5, 123.1 mm SL, Cochin, Kerala. NBFGR-CH-1164-1171, 8 specimens 84.3 mm – 132.9 mm SL, Cochin, Kerala. NBFGR- CH-1159-1163, NBFGR-CH-1181-1185,10 specimens 83 mm – 98.3 mm SL, Karaikal, Tamil Nadu. NBFGR- CH-1172-1180, 9 specimens 78.4 mm – 89.9 mm SL, Veraval, Gujarat.

Diagnosis: Pampus candidus ( Fig. 4 ) can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: colour bluish silvery or white; greater body depth (> 63%) in comparison with standard length; 37 total vertebrae, including 16 precaudal and 21 caudal vertebrae; gill rakers 8–10, minute and tubercular. Dorsal fin rays VII-IX, 40–42, anal fin rays V–VII, 36–41, anterior rays of dorsal and anal fins produced into falcate lobes, preceded by small blade-like spines embedded in skin and not obvious in large specimens; pectoral fins 39–51% of SL; caudal fin forked, the lower lobe usually not longer than the upper one in adults, while it is greatly extended in sub-adults.

Description: Body compressed and rhombic, covered with small, deciduous, orbicular scales. Head compressed; dorsal profile strongly keeled, being more prominent behind the eye; snout obtuse. Eye small, greater than snout length. Mouth small, oblique, reaching to middle of eye; upper jaw covered with skin, not moveable. Branchiostegal membrane fused with isthmus. Gill membranes joined to belly; gill slit long, its lower margin below the level of pectoral-fin base; total gill rakers on first gill arch number 7–10 and appear minute and tubercular ( Fig. 5 ). Dorsal fin rays VII–IX 40–42, preceded by 7–9 short, blade-like spines with pointed ends which are visible externally in juveniles and embedded in the skin in adults; anal fin rays V–VII36–41, preceeded by 5-6 short, blade-like spines with pointed ends which are visible externally in juveniles and embedded in the skin in adults; both median fins lobe-like anteriorly, originating behind pectoral-fin base; a vertical drawn from the first externally visible ray in the anal fin passes through the fourth or fifth dorsal fin ray. Anterior rays of anal fin usually extended. Caudal fin long, deeply forked, lower lobe usually extended in sub adults, but progressively shorten with age and specimens over 100 mm SL have both lobes of almost equal length. Pectoral fins long, with 22–24 rays. Pelvic fins absent. Head and nape with a well-developed network of longitudinal sensory canals, the posterior end of which intersects a vertical drawn through the pectoral fin origin. Lateral line high, extending from the upper edge of opercle, along the line of the back, to caudal peduncle. Total vertebrae 37 ( Fig. 6 ), with the formula T 37 = (a1 = 2) A = 15 (i = 1) + C = 22, where T is total number of vertebrae; A is the number of abdominal vertebrae; a1 is the number of predorsal vertebrae; I is the number of intermediate vertebrae; and C is the number of caudal vertebrae, including the last complex of preural-uralcentra ( Jawad and Jig 2016).

Color in formalin: Dorsal surfaces of head and lateral sides of body brownish, fading to pale creamy or yellow and brownish on ventral sides. Snout marked with fine chromatophores. All fins brownish with dark outer margins.

Color in life: Dorsal sides of body and head dark, lateral surfaces of body bluish silver or white. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins with dark outer margins; pectoral fins hyaline.

Etymology: The specific epithet, from the Latin for “bright white”, apparently refers to the typical colour of the fish.

Figures

Fig. 3. Image of Stomateus candidus MNHN-IC-A-5712.

Fig. 4. Image of Pampus candidus.

Fig. 5. First Gill raker of Pampus candidus.

Fig. 6. Radiograph of Pampus candidus.