Novel records of three remoras from Andaman and Nicobar waters, India
Keywords:
White suckerfish, Marlin sucker, Spearfish remora, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.Abstract
Present study reports three remoras viz. marlin sucker Remora osteochir (Cuvier, 1829), spearfish remora. R. brachyptera (Lowe, 1839) and white suckerfish, R. albescens (Temminck and Schlegel, 1850) from Andaman and Nicobar waters. Remora brachyptera was found attached on the body surface of Indo pacific sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus (Shaw, 1792) hooked in tuna longline operated in and around Andaman and Nicobar waters and R. osteochir was collected from the body surface of Indo-Pacific blue marlin Makaira mazara (Jordan & Snyder, 1901). While R. albescens was recovered from the gill chamber of devil fish Mobula mobular (Bonnaterre, 1788) and it is a new host and geographic record for R. albescens. Detailed morphological description and comparison with earlier records were provided.
