Batrachomoeus trispinosus (Günther, 1861)

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 : 617

Batrachomoeus trispinosus (Günther, 1861)

Figure 2G

Material examined. MALAYSIA • 1, 102 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 (102) 00001 .

Identification. Maximum TL about 200 mm; body robust, slightly dorso-ventrally compressed; head broad and flattened, many short fleshy appendages around jaws; one strong subopercular spine; mouth large, terminal; gill openings smaller than pectoral fin base, re- stricted to sides of body; pectoral fins broad, distinct pore at top of pectoral fin axil, pelvic fins anterior to pec- toral fins; dorsal fin notched, first part spinous and short; second part soft and long. Body brown with two or three large and irregularly shaped, dark-brown, vertical bars on each side, that do not extend on dorsal and anal fins. Fins opaque, uneven brown.

The genus Batrachomoeus can be distinguished from the genus Allenbatrachus by the presence of a foramen behind the upper part of the pectoral fin insertion

( Greenfield et al. 2008). Batrachomoeus trispinosus seems more common than A. grunniens in Merbok. A marine species widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region supporting lower salinity.