Ephippus orbis (Bloch, 1787) Orbfish

Yennawar, Prasanna, Mohapatra, Anil & Tudu, Prasad Chandra, 2017, An account of Ichthyofauna of Digha coast, West Bengal, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (1), pp. 4-4 : 4-

31. Ephippus orbis (Bloch, 1787) Orbfish (Figure 32)

Material examined: 1 ex.; 22.07.11; Mohana, Reg. No. MARC /ZSI/F3731 .

Description: D: IX, 19-20; A: III,15-17. Body strongly compressed, rounded in shape. Body silvery with 4-5 vertical black bands from dorsal fin to belly. Head and body silvery blue-green. Fins dusky. Body orbicular and strongly compressed, its depth more than twice length of head. Eye above horizontal axis through mouth. Mouth small, the maxilla not reaching past vertical at front edge of eye. Jaws with bands of slender, incisiform teeth with a single lanceolate cusp. No teeth on palatines or vomer. Preopercle distinctly serrate, with a broad naked margin. Opercle without spines Margins of soft dorsal, anal, pelvic and caudal fins dusky black. Size: 25 cm.

Distribution: Indo-West Pacific: East Africa to New Caledonia, north to Japan.

Remarks: The fish has a commercial value.Ornamental.