First Record of Australian Sawcheek Scorpionfish, Brachypterois curvispina, (Actinopterygii: Scorpaeniformes: Scorpaenidae) From the St. Martin Island, Bangladesh

• Main Authors: Hanif, M.A., Siddik, M.A.B., Islam, M.A., Sharker, M.R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2021
• Subjects: Martin Island; Pacific
• Online Access: https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/59317/

The composition and ichthyofaunal diversity of the Bay of Bengal and its adjacent coast have been being explored with time. Australian sawcheek scorpionfish, Brachypterois curvispina is a newly reported species in Bangladeshi water recorded from the St. Martin Island (coral reef) off the Bay of Bengal coast. The identity of this species was confirmed by comparing it with the published morphological description of a specimen reported from the Australian coast. The presence of posteriorly directed lachrymal spines is the key character of this species. Its preferred food items were observed small fish, shrimp, lobster, crab, and some aquatic insects. The dispersal of this species in this geographical area illustrates a considerable expansion of its distributional range, the previously reported Australian coast which is far off from the present record. Although the actual cause of dispersal is unexplored, climate change and global warming are assumed to stretch out the species distribution range. This discovery of Brachypterois curvispina provides a new non-native species record in the coral reef of Bangladesh and represents the northern-most dispersal in the Indo-Pacific region.