Research Article First record of black spot band fish: Acanthocepola limbata (Valenciennes, 1835) from Northern Bay of Bengal Arya Sen1, , Pradip Panda2, , Joseph Stanley Yogesh Kumar2, Zoological Survey of India, Sunderban Regional Centre, Canning, West Bengal, 743329, India *Correspondence: arya.sen2@gmail.com Citation: Sen, A., Panda, P., & Yogesh Kumar, J. S. (2023). First record of black spot band fish: Acanthocepola limbata (Valenciennes, 1835) from Northern Bay of Bengal. Taxa, 1, ad23102: 6p. Received: 17.01.2023 Revised: 01.05.2023 Accepted: 02.05.2023 Published Online: 05.05.2023 Abstract Based on a specimen obtained from the Petuaghat fish landing on the West Bengal coast, Acanthocepola limbata (Valenciennes, 1835) is described here for the first time from the Northern Bay of Bengal. There is only one record of this species from the Gulf of Mannar, which is also on India's southeast coast. This species had previously been reported from Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Kerala, which are mostly on the west coast of India. Although Acanthocepola indica has been found in the research area, the presence of A. limbata indicates that the Cepolidae fish family is less well known than other fish families. This species is mainly regarded as trash fish and is not seen in significant quantities along any of the coasts of India. The morphological traits of A are the topic of this message. The morphological characteristics of A. limbata from Petuaghat is recorded in this communication, which compares them to all previously described specimens of A. limbata from each place of occurrence in India. Keywords: Acanthocepola, Cepolidae, Bay of Bengal, New record, West Bengal Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of Taxa, Cappadocia Publishing and/or the editor(s). Cappadocia Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Taxa 2023, 1, ad23102, 6p. Introduction The fishes of the family Cepolidae are known as the "band or snakefishes" due to their laterally compressed and elongated bodies, which resemble a band–like appearance and are covered in cycloid scales (Jordan & Fowler, 1903). The family Cepolidae comprises three genera and 45 species that are distributed worldwide (Froese & Pauly, 2022). Globally, band fishes are mostly observed from the Northwest Pacific: central Honshu, Japan southward to Taiwan, and the Western Central Pacific Ocean (Smith– Vaniz, 2001). Although from India, six species of Cepolids have so far been identified, including A. limbata, Owstonia simoterus, A. indica, Cepola macrophthalma, A. abbreviate, and O. kamoharai (Manojkumar & Pavithran, 2011; Venu & Madhusoodana, 2009; Pradhan & Mahapatra, 2018; Nair & Geetha, 2018; Kulkarni & Balasubramanian, 1978; Oxona et al., 2020; Joshi et al., 2014; Mogalekar et al., 2018). Cepolidaes were reviewed by Jordan and Fowler (1903), who recognised three species, Cepola schlegelii, A. krusensternii, and A. limbata from Japan for the first time (Jordan & Fowler, 1903). The species A. limbata was originally discovered in India, but its original whereabouts are unknown (Fricke et al., 2022). Later, it was identified in Karwar, Karnataka, and then it was discovered along the coasts of Maharashtra and Kerala on the western coastline and only the https://cappadociapublishing.com/index.php/taxa Sen et al. – First record of black spot band fish: Acanthocepola limbata from Northern Bay of Bengal 2 of 6 Gulf of Mannar on the eastern coast (Kulkarni & Balasubramanian, 1978; Joshi et al., 2014; Manojkumar & Pavithran, 2011; Mogalekar et al., 2018). All of these earlier reports came from the west coast of India and the southern Bay of Bengal, but the specimen from the Petuaghat fish landing in East Medinipur, West Bengal, used in this communication marks the first time the species A. limbata (Valenciennes, 1835) has been reported from the northern Bay of Bengal. Materials and Methods On October 7, 2021, a medium–sized specimen of A. limbata (Valenciennes, 1835) and other bony fishes were taken from a fishing boat's trawl catch in Petuaghat fish landing, West Bengal (21°47'41.33"N, 87°52'55.22"E) (Fig. 1). In the field, freshly obtained specimens were photographed, treated with 10% formalin, and then preserved in 70% ethanol for long–term storage in museums. The preserved specimens were deposited at the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological Survey of India, Sunderban Regional Centre, India. Morphological characters and diagnostic features were taken from Smith’s Sea Fishes and a review of the Cepolidae, or band–fishes, of Japan for identification of the collected specimen (Smith & Heemstra, 1986; Jordan & Fowler, 1903). The e–Catalogue of Fishes is used to guide the classification of the species (Fricke et al., 2022). All the morphological measurements of the collected specimen have been taken using electronic calipers. Figure 1. Map showing the collection site of Acanthocepola limbata (Valenciennes, 1835), from Petuaghat Fishlanding, West Bengal, and other reporting sites throughout India. Sen et al. – First record of black spot band fish: Acanthocepola limbata from Northern Bay of Bengal 3 of 6 Results One specimen belonging to genus Acanthocepola was caught by commercial bottom trawl in Petuaghat fish landing. Based on morphological characters and diagnostic the specimens was identified as Acanthocepola limbata. Material examined. One specimen, Petuaghat fish landing, West Bengal, India (21°47'41.33"N, 87°52'55.22"E), 07.10.2021, Collector: J.S. Yogesh Kumar, Accession Number: ZSI/SbRC/KN5872 (Deposited in the National Zoological Collections of ZSI–Sunderban Regional Centre). The collected sample was identified as Acanthocepola limbata (Valenciennes, 1835) and the details are given below: Class: Actinopterygii Klein, 1885 Order: Perciformes Bleeker, 1863 Family: Cepolidae Rafinesque 1815 Subfamil: Cepolinae Rafinesque 1815 Genus: Acanthocepola Bleeker, 1874 Acanthocepola limbata (Valenciennes, 1835) 1835. Cepola limbata Valenciennes [A.] in Cuvier &Valenciennes Histoire naturelle des poissonsV.10:402 (Japan). 1984. Acanthocepola limbata (Valenciennes 1835). Araga in Masuda et al. The fishes of the Japanese Archipelago. Tokyo (Tokai University Press).i–xxii + 1–437 Common Name: Black spot band fish. Conservation Status: NE (2023). Economic Importance: These fishes are used mainly for the preparation of fish cakes (Joshi et al., 2014). Some of the local people also use this fish for dry fish preparation. Description. Meristic. Dorsal fin soft rays 102; Anal fin soft rays 106; Pectoral fin soft rays 19; Pelvic fin soft rays 6; Caudal fin with 10 soft rays; first gill with 54 gill rakers, 100 gill filaments (Fig. 2D); vertebrae 12+65 (Fig. 2E). The morphometric characteristics and meristic measurements of A. limbata (Valenciennes, 1835) is given in Table 1. Table 1. Morphometric measurements of the collected specimens Characters Measurements (mm) Total length (TL) 259 Standard length (SL) 235 Head length (HL) 35.4 Eye diameter 12.1 Inter orbital length 8.9 Snout length 7.5 Pectoral fin length 21.2 Pelvic fin length 25.3 Anal fin length 15.1 Pre–dorsal length 33.3 Pre–anal length 47.2 Pre–pectoral length 38.9 Pre–pelvic length 32.4 Body width 31 Upper jaw length 13.8 Caudal fin length 24.2 Body shape and color. The body is elongated, looks like a ribbon, and taper at both ends. The caudal fin is connected with the dorsal and anal fins. Scales on the body are cycloid and are evenly spaced throughout. The opercula and overhead scales are essentially smaller than the body. presence of a short, blunt–ended snout. Eye diameter is less than snout length. presence of large, rounded eyes with an outer rim of golden–red color. A soft, thin layer of membrane along the outer opercle edges. Over the Sen et al. – First record of black spot band fish: Acanthocepola limbata from Northern Bay of Bengal 4 of 6 pre–opercle region, there are five blunt spines. The mouth is large and positioned terminally, with an upward direction, extending outward from the lower jaw. Dorsal fin originates from the head just prior to the gill opening. Anal fin origin is immediately before the pectoral fin origin. Pelvic fins are originated from right below the inclination point of the operculum. First pelvic fin ray is the largest in length and with a reddish tint at the distal end. Pectoral fins are orange to light reddish in color and a thin dark red band is present around the base. Figure 2. Acanthocepola limbata (Valenciennes, 1835): A – Freshly collected specimen, B – Preserved specimen, C – Dorsal fin showing the black spot, D – Gill raker of the preserved specimen& E– X–ray plate Sen et al. – First record of black spot band fish: Acanthocepola limbata from Northern Bay of Bengal 5 of 6 The fresh specimen has a reddish body with vertical streaks of bright golden yellow color (Fig. 2A). The dorsal and anal fins are pinkish, and the dorsal fin has a dark reddish–black oval patch between the eighth and fourteenth rays. The anal fin's outer portion has a white and dark brown longitudinal row (Fig. 2C). The body color changed to a light greyish tint after preservation in 70% ethanol, but the preserved specimens still had the dark brown color on the distal region of the anal fin (Fig. 2B). Distribution. India – Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, west coast of India & Tamil Nadu (Kulkarni & Balasubramanian, 1978, Joshi et al., 2014, Manojkumar & Pavithran, 2011, Mogalekar et al., 2018); Elsewhere – Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, Maldives, Philippines, East China, Japan and Gulf of Papua (GBIF, 2021). Discussion Deep sea snake fish or cepolids are also known as bandfish due to their band like appearance. In India, only six species of cepolids are reported so far and A. limbata is reported mostly from west coast whereas only one record is there from the south east coast of India. It was recorded from the Gulf of Mannar on the south–east coast, but that is also debatable because the checklist by Mogalekar et al. (2018) used a reference to establish the existence of A. limbata, but it was later discovered that the cepolidae listed in the original reference was A. abbreviate (Ramaiyan et al., 1986). Although the habitat of the Gulf of Mannar can support for the existance for A. limbata but more studies should be carried out to verify its presence in the area. Due to the ambiguous occurrence from Gulf of Mannar area, it has not been mentioned in the distribution map of A. limbata (Fig 1). A. indica Day, 1888, which is sometimes misidentified as A. limbata (Valenciennes, 1835), can be distinguished by the number of dorsal fin soft rays (102–104 in A. limbata vs. 83–88 in the A. indica); presence of dark reddish–black oval shaped spot between 8th to 14th rays in A. limbata but 7th to 11th rays in A. indica. Whereas another species A. abbreviata (Valenciennes, 1835) differs from A. limbata by the absence of the black spot on the dorsal fin as well as by the count of dorsal fin rays, (67–74 vs. 102–104) (Mahesh et al., 2019; Pradhan & Mahapatra, 2018). Cepolids are bottom–dwelling fish that have received little research since only bottom trawl nets can capture them. They are difficult for researchers to study because of their burrowing behaviour and affinity for sand or muddy bottom locations with a water column depth of 15 to 100 metres (Masuda et al., 1984, Allen & Erdmann, 2012). As a result, an effort has been made in this work to verify the existence of A. limbata from the northern Bay of Bengal, which also makes an addition to the marine ichthyofaunal diversity of West Bengal. Author Contributions: Author J.S.Y.K. collected the specimen, confirmed the identification, prepared final proof of manuscript for submission, and guided overall work. Author P.P. identified and prepared the draft manuscript. Author A.S. assisted during survey, preservation, photography & identification of the specimen and edited & formatted the manuscript. Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank Dr. Dhriti Banerjee, Director, Zoological Survey of India for the support and encouragement for undertaking the work. The authors are also thankful to West Bengal Forest Department, Government of West Bengal, India for the necessary permissions and support provided for the survey. Funding: This study was financially supported under project entitled Coral reef associated fauna of east coast of India by Zoological Survey of India. Data Availability Statement: The data underlying this article will be shared upon reasonable request to the corresponding author. The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in National Zoological Collection at Zoological Survey of India, Sunderban Regional Centre, Canning – 743329, WB, India, reference number ZSI/SbRC/KN5872. All the materials used in study are available in National Zoological Collection of Zoological Survey of India and are available on request. 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