The Indian handfish, Halieutaea indica Annandale & Jenkins, 1910 (Lophiiformes: Ogcocephalidae), an additional fish species for the Gulf of Oman

Abstract

Batfishes of the family Ogcocephalidae are a group of Lophiiformes found in tropical and subtropical marine waters with specific morphological adaptations for a deep-water benthic lifestyle. This study, morphologically and genetically documents the range extension of Indo-Pacific batfish, Halieutaea indica into the northern marginal waters of the Indian Ocean (Gulf of Oman), and confirms the presence of more shared fish elements of the Gulf of Oman with the Indian Ocean. DNA barcoding based on the mitochondrial COI gene sequence revealed that the collected batfish specimens from the Gulf of Oman are conspecific with H. indica.