Thryssa kammalensis (Bleeker, 1849)

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 : 615

Thryssa kammalensis (Bleeker, 1849)

Material examined. MALAYSIA • 5, 79– 96 mm TL; Kedah State, Kuala Kedah, Kuala Muda Whispering Market ; 05.578°N, 100.341°E; 6 Dec. 2018; Danial H. Zainal Abidin, Norli F.M.A.H. Alshari leg.; USMFC (82) 00040 . • 5, 87– 102 mm TL; Kedah State, Kuala Kedah, Kuala Muda Whispering Market ; 05.578°N, 100.341°E; 6 Dec. 2018; Danial H. Zainal Abidin, Norli F.M.A.H. Alshari leg.; USMFC (82) 00042 . • 1, 85 mm TL; Kedah State, Merbok, Pompang Sungai Merbok ; 05.664°N, 100.381°E; 6 Dec. 2018; Danial H. Zainal Abidin, Norli F.M.A.H. Alshari leg.; USMFC (82) 00046 . • 5, 86– 103 mm TL; Kedah State, Kuala Kedah, Kuala Muda Whispering Market ; 05.578°N, 100.341°E; 5 Dec. 2018; Danial H. Zainal Abidin, Norli F.M.A.H. Alshari leg.; USMFC (82) 00048 .

Identification. A small species of Thryssa (maximum TL about 100 mm); body elongated, compressed and keeled from isthmus to anus; large mouth, its corner behind the eye; anal fin long with three unbranched and 30– 33 branched fin rays; only 26–32 gill rakers on first gill arch; maxilla short, its posterior tip reaching just to gill opening; prepelvic scutes 15 or 16; post-pelvic scutes 8 or 9; body mostly silvery with a diagnostic blackish “saddle” on nape ( Whitehead et al. 1988); no silver longitudinal stripe; no pigment line on dorsum ( Whitehead et al. 1988).

Thryssa kammalensis can be easily distinguished from other species of Thryssa occurring in the Merbok river estuary by its very short maxilla reaching only to gill opening. Thryssa kammalensis is a coastal marine species commonly caught in brackish ecosystems of this region. Otherwise, distributed in the central part of the Indo-West Pacific region ( Whitehead et al. 1988).