Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Historical and contemporary records of sunfish landings in Indian waters: Insights from archives, literature, and fisher networks

Volume 66 Issue 2

Rekha J. Nair, A. Gopalakrishnan and K. T. S. Sunil

doi:10.6024/jmbai.2024.66.2.2493-12

Abstract

The occurrence of five species of sunfish along the Indian coastline is reviewed for the period 1953-2022 based on published records for the period 1953-2021 and discussions with fishermen during the period 2017-2022. Four species of sunfish with 40 records have been documented belonging to three genera. Of the eighteen fishes of Masturus lanceolatus landed, 11 were on the east coast and 7 on the west coast; of the total thirteen numbers of Mola mola reported landed in Indian waters, six were from the east coast and seven from the west coast. The paper attempts to compile information on the landings of these giant slime eaters and to correlate it with the occurrence of blooms.

Keywords

Sunfish, India, landings, jellyfish

Date : 19-12-2024