Equulites absconditus Chakrabarty and Sparks, 2010

Abraham, K. J., Joshi, K. K. & Murty, V. S. R., 2011, Taxonomy of the fishes of the family Leiognathidae (Pisces, Teleostei) from the West coast of India, Zootaxa 2886 (1), pp. 1-18 : 11-12

9. Equulites absconditus Chakrabarty and Sparks, 2010

(Plate II, Fig. 1; Tables 1 –2)

Equula lineolata Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1835, Hist. nat. Poiss., 10: 86.

Material examined. 10 specimens (2 females, 4 males, 4 indeterminates) of 54–76 mm TL ( Cochin, Neendakara ) .

Description. D.VIII, 16; P. ii, 11–12, ii; V. I, 5; A. III, 14; C. 15.

As percent of standard length: Total length 128.81–132.00 (130.48); fork length 112.77–116.07 (114.52); predorsal 35.42–37.50 (36.49); preanal 46.67–50.00 (48.67); dorsal base 55.36–59.57 (57.04); anal base 42.55–45.83 (44.18); head 26.67–29.17 (27.87); dorsal height 15.56–18.00 (17.06); anal height 12.20–14.58 (13.13); pectoral 16.67–18.00 (17.29); depth 31.71–40.00 (36.97).

As percent of head length: Snout 21.43–31.25 (26.62); eye 31.25–38.46 (34.00);head height 71.43–81.82 (76.17).

Body oblong, compressed and elongate, dorsal and ventral profiles equally convex. A slight concavity over occiput. Snout pointed. Mouth small, lips narrow and thick. Mouth when protracted forms a tube directed downwards. Commencement of gape of mouth over lower one third of eye. Inferior edge of mandibles slightly concave. Teeth small, numerous, on the jaws. A pair of spines on top of the head, over the anterior third of the orbit. Preopercle with its lower margin straight and finely serrated. First part of lateral line with a concavity, later running less convex to the dorsal profile, and cannot be traced forward from somewhere between the middle to the end of the dorsal fin, posteriorly. Ventrals with axillary scale and their tips do not quite reach the origin of the anals. Caudal fin deeply forked. In males, an expansive triangular translucent patch in the shape of an equilateral triangle is present in the midflank.

Color. Belly silvery, back brownish with relatively sparse vertical zigzag lines or grey irregular vermiculations from behind head to caudal base, laterally extending down to a little below the lateral line. Ventral half of the body with fine black dots. Tip of snout dotted black. Inner side of pectoral base also dotted black, as also the lower edge of the gill opening covered by the opercular flap.

Distribution. Along Cochin, Quilon, Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar, Madras, and Kakinada.

PLATE II. 1. Equulites absconditus Chakrabarty and Sparks, 2010 ; 2. Equulites leuciscus ( Günther, 1860) ; 3. Aurigequula fasciata (Lacepède, 1803) ; 4. Aurigequula longispina (Valenciennes, 1835) ; 5. Secutor insidiator (Bloch, 1787) ; 6. Secutor ruconius ( Hamilton, 1822) ; 7. Gazza minuta (Bloch, 1797) ; 8. Gazza achlamys Jordan and Starks, 1917.