Dussumieria albulina (Fowler, 1934)

Zainal Abidin, Danial Hariz, Lavoué, Sébastien, Mohd Abu Hassan Alshari, Norli Fauzani, Mohd. Nor, Siti Azizah, A. Rahim, Masazurah & Mohammed Akib, Noor Adelyna, 2021, Ichthyofauna of Sungai Merbok Mangrove Forest Reserve, northwest Peninsular Malaysia, and its adjacent marine waters, Check List 17 (2), pp. 601-631 : 611

Dussumieria albulina (Fowler, 1934)

Figure 3D

Material examined. MALAYSIA • 3, 62– 65 mm TL; Kedah State, Kampung Batu Lintang, Pompang Batu Lintang ; 05.625°N, 100.394°E; 17 Jul. 2019; Sébastien Lavoué leg.; USMFC (103) 00001 .

Identification. Species recently rediagnosed and revalidated in Hata et al. (2021); maximum TL about 150 mm; body elongated and rounded; belly not keeled without pre- and post-pelvic scutes; W-shaped pelvic scute; no predorsal scute; branchiostegal rays 12–17; rectangular premaxillae; mouth terminal; anal fin short with three unbranched and 11–14 branched fin rays; gill rakers on first gill arch 33–41; no teeth on parasphenoid; dor- sal part of the body deep blue, lateral and ventral parts uniformly silver; deep blue and silver parts separated by yellow-greenish longitudinal stripes on each side (Hata et al. 2021); fins mostly translucent with melanophores scattered on 3 rd to 9 th pectoral-fin rays (numerated from the uppermost ray).

Dussumieria albulina closely resembles Dussumieria acuta Valenciennes, 1847 , but it can be distinguished by the absence of teeth on parasphenoid and the presence of black marking on 3 rd to 9 th pectoral-fin rays (Hata et al. 2021). Previous records of D. acuta in this region may refer to D. albulina (although the two species may also occur sympatrically). Dussumieria albulina is a predominantly coastal marine species commonly recorded in brackish ecosystems of this region; we collected three juveniles from the Merbok river estuary. Otherwise,

distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region, from India to the Philippines (Hata et al. 2021).